
CflWB^ttU? 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






^■<-'i-,... 



ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY EDITION. 

TANGLEVVOOD TALES, 

AND 

BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 



TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. 




BOSTON : 



HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. 
®(je Btoermfce Press, Cambrrtiffe. 

1881. 






■r)i 

1881 



Copyright, 1850 and 1853- 
By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 



Copyright, 1878 and 1881, 
By ROSE HAWTHORNE LATHROP. 



All rights reserved. 






♦ * 



TANGLEWOOD TALES 

FOR GIRLS AND BOYS. 



BEING 



A SECOND WONDER-BOOK. 



CONTENTS 



JPACl 

THE WAYSIDE— INTRODBCTOltt 7 

1 THE MINOTAUR. - . ■ • • l9 

H. THE PYGMIES, 71 

III. THE DRAGON'S TEETH, ... . • • • • lfl6 

IV CIRCE'S PALACE, ... 161 

\ THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS .214 

Vi THE GOLDEN FLEECE, . . • • • ** 



THE WAYSIDE. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

A short time ago, I was favored with a fly- 
ing visit from my young friend Eustace Bright, 
whom I had not before met with since quitting 
the breezy mountains of Berkshire. It being 
the winter vacation at his college, Eustace was 
allowing himself a little relaxation, in the hope, 
he told me, of repairing the inroads which severe 
application to study had made upon his health ; 
and I was happy to conclude, from the excellent 
physical condition in which I saw him, that the 
remedy had already been attended with very de- 
sirable success. He had now run up from Bos- 
ton by the noon train, partly impelled by the 
friendly regard with which he is pleased to honor 
me, and partly, as I soon found, on a matter of 
literary business. 

It delighted me to receive Mr. Bright, for the 
first time, under a roof, though a very humble 

(7) 



8 THE WAYSIDE. 

one, which I could really call my own. Noi did 
I fail (as is the custom of landed proprietors all 
about the world) to parade the poor fellow up 
and down over my half a dozen acres ; secretly 
rejoicing, nevertheless, that the disarray of the 
\nclement season, and particularly the six inches 
of snow then upon the ground, prevented him 
from observing the ragged neglect of soil and 
shrubbery into which the place has lapsed. It 
was idle, however, to imagine that an airy guest 
from Monument Mountain, Bald Summit, and 
old Graylock, shaggy with primeval forests, 
could see any thing to admire in my poor little 
hillside, with its growth of frail and insect- 
eaten locust trees. Eustace very frankly called 
the view from my hill top tame ; and so, no 
doubt, it was, after rough, broken, rugged, head- 
long Berkshire, and especially the northern parts 
of the county, with which his college residence 
had made him familiar. But to me there is a 
peculiar, quiet charm in these broad meadows 
and gentle eminences. They are better than 
mountains, because they do not stamp and 
stereotype themselves into the brain, and thus 
grow wearisome with the same strong impres- 



THE WAYSIDE. 



9 



sion, repeated day after day. A few summer 
weeks among mountains, a lifetime among 
green meadows and placid slopes, with outlines 
forever new, because continually fading out of 
the memory — such would be my sober choice. 

I doubt whether Eustace did not internally 
pronounce the whole thing a bore, until I led 
him to my predecessor's little ruined, rustic 
summer house, midway on the hillside. It h 
a mere skeleton of slender, decaying tree 
trunks, with neither walls nor a roof; nothing 
but a tracery of branches and twigs, which the 
next wintry blast will be very likely to scatter 
in fragments along the terrace. It looks, and 
is, as evanescent as a dream ; and yet, in its 
rustic network of boughs, it has somehow en- 
closed a hint of spiritual beauty, and has be- 
come a true emblem of the subtile and ethereal 
mind that planned it. I made Eustace Bright 
sit down on a snow bank, which had heaped 
itself over the mossy seat, and gazing through 
the arched window opposite, he acknowledged 
that the scene at once grew picturesque. 

" Simple as it looks," said he, " this little 
edifice seems to be the work of magic. It is 



10 THE WAYSIDE. 

full of suggestiveness, and, in its way, is ab 
good as a cathedral. Ah, it would be just the 
spot for one to sit in, of a summer afternoon, 
and tell the children some more of those wild 
stories from the classic myths ! " 

" It would, indeed," answered I. " The sum- 
mer house itself, so airy and so broken, is like 
one of those old tales, imperfectly remembered ; 
and these living branches of the Baldwin apple 
tree, thrusting themselves so rudely in, are like 
your unwarrantable interpolations. But, by the 
by, have you added any more legends to the 
series, since the publication of the Wonder 
Book ? " 

" Many more," said Eustace ; " Primrose, 
Periwinkle, and the rest of them, allow me 
no comfort of my life, unless I tell them a 
story every day or two. I have run away from 
home partly to escape the importunity of those, 
little wretches . But I have written out six of 
the new stories, and have brought them for you 
to look over." 

"Are they as good as the first?" I in- 
quired. 

" Better chosen, and better handled," replied 



THE WAYSIDE. 11 

Eustace Bright. " You will say so when yoa 
read them." 

" Possibly not," I remarked. " I know, from 
my own experience, that an author's last work 
is always his best one, in his own estimate, 
until it quite loses the red heat of composition. 
After that, it falls into its true place, quietly 
enough. But let us adjourn to my study, and 
examine these new stories. It would hardly be 
doing yourself justice, were you to bring me 
acquainted with them, sitting here on this snow 
bank ! " 

So we descended the hill to my small, old cot- 
tage, and shut ourselves up in the south-eastern 
room, where the sunshine comes in, warmly and 
brightly, through the better half of a winter's 
day. Eustace put his bundle of manuscript 
into my hands ; and I skimmed through it 
pretty rapidly, trying to find out its merits 
and demerits by the touch of my fingers, as 
a veteran story teller ought to know how to do. 

It will be remembered, that Mr. Bright con- 
descended to avail himself of my literary ex- 
perience by constituting me editor of the Won- 
der Book. As he had no reason to complain of 



12 THE WAYSIDE. 

the reception of that erudite work, by the public 
he was now disposed to retain me in a similai 
position, with respect to the present volume, 
which he entitled " Tanglewood Tales." Not, 
as Eustace hinted, that there was any real 
necessity for my services as introductor, inas- 
much as his own name had become established, 
in some good degree of favor, with the literary 
world. But the connection with myself, he was 
kind enough to say, had been highly agreeable ; 
nor was he by any means desirous, as most 
people are, of kicking away the ladder that had 
perhaps helped him to reach his present eleva- 
tion. My young friend was willing, in short, 
that the fresh verdure of his growing reputation 
should spread over my straggling and hall- 
naked boughs ; even as I have sometimes thought 
of training a vine, with its broad leanness, and 
purple fruitage, over the worm-eaten posts and 
rafters of the rustic summer house. I was not 
insensible to the. advantages of his proposal, and 
gladly assured him of my acceptance. 

Merely from the titles of the stories, I saw at 
once that the subjects were not less rich than 
those of the former volume ; nor did I at all 



THE WAYSIDE. 13 

doubt that Mr. Bright's audacity (so far as that 
endowment might avail) had enabled him to 
take full advantage of whatever capabilities they 
offered. Yet, in spite of my experience of his 
free way of handling them, I did not quite see, 
I confess, how he could have obviated all the 
difficulties in the way of rendering them pre- 
sentable to children. These old legends, so 
brimming over with every thing that is most 
abhorrent to our Christianized moral sense — 
some of them so hideous, others so melancholy 
and miserable, amid which the Greek tragedians 
sought their themes, and moulded them into 
the sternest forms of grief that ever the world 
saw ; was such material the stuff that children's 
playthings should be made of! How were they 
to be purified ? How was the blessed sunshine 
to be thrown into them ? 

But Eustace told me that these myths were 
the most singular things in the world, and that 
he was invariably astonished, whenever he be* 
gan to relate one, by the readiness with which 
it adapted itself to the childish purity of his au- 
ditors. The objectionable characteristics seem 
to be a parasitical growth, having no essential 



14 THE WAYSIDE. 

connection with the original fable. They fall 
away, and are thought of no more, the instant 
he puts his imagination in sympathy with the 
innocent little circle, whose wide-open eyes are 
fixed so eagerly upon him. Thus the stories 
(not by any strained effort of the narrator's, but 
in harmony with their inherent germ) transform 
themselves, and reassume the shapes which 
they might be supposed to possess in the pure 
childhood of the world. When the first poet 
or romancer told these marvellous legends, (such 
is Eustace Bright's opinion,) it was still the 
Golden Age. Evil had never yet existed; and 
sorrow, misfortune, crime, were mere shadows 
which the mind fancifully created for itself, as 
a shelter against too sunny realities ; or, at 
most, but prophetic dreams, to which the dream- 
er himself did not yield a waking credence. 
Children are now the only representatives of 
the men and women of that happy era ; and 
therefore it is that we must raise the intellect 
and fancy to the level of childhood, in order to 
re-create the original myths. 

I let the youthful author talk as much and 
as extravagantly as he pleased, and was glad 



THE WAYSIDE. l/> 

to see him commencing life with such confi- 
dence in himself and his performances. A few 
years will do all that is necessary towards show- 
ing him the truth in both respects. Meanwhile, 
it is but right to say, he does really appear to 
have overcome the moral objections against 
these fables, although at the expense of such 
liberties with their structure as must be left to 
plead their own excuse, without any help from 
me. Indeed, except that there was a necessity 
for it, — and that the inner life of the legends 
cannot be come at save by making them entire- 
ly one's own property, — there is no defence 
to be made. 

Eustace informed me that he had told his 
stories to the children in various situations — in 
the woods, on the shore of the lake, in the dell 
of Shadow Brook, in the play room, at Tangle- 
wood fireside, and in a magnificent palace of 
snow, with ice windows, which he helped his 
little friends to build. His auditors were even 
more delighted with the contents of me present 
volume than with the specimens which have 
already been given to the world. The classical- 
ly learned Mr. Pringle, too, had listened to two 



16 THE WAYSIDE. 

or three of the tales, and censured them even 
more bitterly than he did The Three Golden 
Apples ; so that, what with praise, and wha^ 
with criticism, Eustace Bright thinks that there 
is good hope of at least as much success with 
the public as in the case of the Wonder Book. 

I made all sorts of inquiries about the chil 
dren, not doubting that there would be greal 
eagerness to hear of their welfare, among some 
good little folks who have written to me, to ask 
for another volume of myths. They are all, I 
am happy to say, (unless we except Clover,) in 
excellent health and spirits. Primrose is now 
almost a young lady, and, Eustace tells me, is 
just as saucy as ever. She pretends to consider 
herself quite beyond the age to be interested 
by such idle stories as these; but, for all that, 
whenever a story is to be told, Primrose never 
fails to be one of the listeners, and to make fun 
of it when finished. Periwinkle is very much 
grown, and is expected to shut up her baby 
house and throw away her doll in a month or 
two more. Sweet Fern has learned to read and 
write, and has put on c jacket and pair of pan- 
taloons — all of which improvements I am sorry 



THE WAYSiDE. 



17 



for. Squash Blossom, Blue Eye, Plantain, and 
Buttercup have had the scarlet fever, but came 
easily through it. Huckleberry, Milkweed, and 
Dandelion were attacked with the hooping 
cough, but bore it bravely, and kept out of 
doors whenever the sun shone. Cowslip, dur- 
ing the autumn, had either the measles, or some 
eruption that looked very much like it, but was 
hardly sick a day. Poor Clover has been a good 
deal troubled with her second teeth, which have 
made her meagre in aspect and rather fractious 
in temper; nor, even when she smiles, is the 
matter much mended, since it discloses a gap 
just within her lips, almost as wide as the barn 
door. But all this will pass over, and it is 
predicted that she will turn out a very pretty 
girl. 

As for Mr. Bright himself, he is now in his 
senior year at Williams College, and has a pros- 
pect of graduating with some degree of honor- 
able distinction at the next commencement. In 
his oration for the bachelor's degree, he gives 
me to understand, he will treat of the classical 
myths, viewed in the aspect of baby stories, and 
has a great mind to discuss the expediency of 
2 



L8 THE WAYSIDE. 

using up the whole of ancient history, for the 
same purpose. I do not know what he means 
to do with himself after leaving college, but 
trust that, by dabbling so early with the danger- 
ous and seductive business of autnorship, he 
will not be tempted to become an author by 
profession. If so, I shall be very sorry for the 
little that I have had to do with the matter, in 
encouraging these first beginnings. 

I wish there were any likelihood of my soon 
seeing Primrose, Periwinkle, Dandelion, Sweet 
Fern, Clover, Plantain, Huckleberry, Milkweed, 
Cowslip, Buttercup, Blue Eye, and Squash Blos- 
som again. But as I do not know when I 
shall revisit Tanglewood, and as Eustace Bright 
probably will not ask me to edit a third Wonder 
Book, the public of little folks must not expect 
to hear any more about those dear children 
from me. Heaven bless them, and every body 
else, whether grown people or children! 

The Wayside, Concoed, (Mass.,) 
March 13, 1853. 



THE MINOTAUR. 19 



THE MINOTAUR 



In the old city of Trcezene, at the foot of 
a lofty mountain, there lived, a very long time 
ago, a little boy named Theseus. His grand- 
father, King Pittheus, was the sovereign of that 
country, and was reckoned a very wise man ; 
so that Theseus, being brought up in the royal 
palace, and being naturally a bright lad, could 
hardly fail of profiting by the old king's instruc- 
tions. His mother's name was iEthra. As for 
his father, the boy had never seen him. But, 
from his earliest remembrance, iEthra used to 
go with little Theseus into a wood, and sit down 
upon a moss-grown rock, which was deeply 
sunken into the earth. Here she often talked 
with her son about his father, and said that he 
was called ^Egeus, and that he was a great king, 
and ruled over Attica, and dwelt at Athens^ 



20 THE MINOTAUR. 

which was as famous a city as any in the world, 
Theseus was very fond of hearing about King 
iEgeus, and often asked his good mother ^Ethra 
why he did not come and live with them at 
Trcezene. 

" Ah, my dear son," answered iEthra, with a 
sigh, " a monarch has his people to take care of. 
The men and women over whom he rules are 
in the place of children to him ; and he can sel- 
dom spare time to love his own children as other 
parents do. Your father will never be able to 
leave his kingdom for the sake of seeing his 
little boy." 

" Well, but, dear mother," asked the boy, " why 
cannot I go to this famous city of Athens, and 
tell King iEgeus that I am his son ? " 

" That may happen by and by," said ^Ethra. 
" Be patient, and we shall see. You are not yet 
big and strong enough to set out on such an 
errand." 

" And how soon shall I be strong enough ? " 
Theseus persisted in inquiring. 

" You are but a tiny boy as yet," replied his 
mother. " See if you can lift this rock on which 
we are sitting ? " 



THE MINOTAUR- 2 . 

The iitti.3 fellow had a great opinion of his 
own strength. So, grasping the rough protuber- 
ances of the rock, he tugged and toiled amain, 
and got himself quite out of breath, without 
being able to stir the heavy stone. It seemed to 
he rooted into the ground. No wonder he could 
not move it ; for it would have taken all the 
force of a very strong man to lift it out of its 
earthy bed. 

His mother stood looking on, with a sad kind 
of a smile on her lips and in her eyes, to see the 
zealous and yet puny efforts of her little boy. 
She could not help being sorrowful at finding 
him already so impatient to begin his adventures 
in the world. 

" You see how it is, my dear Theseus," said 
she. " You must possess far more strength than 
now before I can trust you to go to Athens, and 
tell King iEgeus that you are his son. But when 
you can lift this rock, and show me what is hid- 
den beneath it, I promise you my permission to 
depart." 

Often and often, after this, did Theseus ask 
his mother whether it was yet time for him to go 
to Athens, and still his mother pointed to the 



22 THE MINOTAUR. 

rock, and told him that, for years to come, lie 
could not be strong enough to move it. And 
again and again the rosy-cheeked and curly 
headed boy would tug and strain at the huge 
mass of stone, striving, child as he was, to do 
what a giant could hardly have done without 
taking both of his great hands to the task. 
Meanwhile the rock seemed to be sinking far- 
ther and farther into the ground. The moss 
grew over it thicker and thicker, until at last it 
looked almost like a soft green seat, with only a 
few gray knobs of granite peeping out. The 
overhanging trees, also, shed their brown leaves 
upon it, as often as the autumn came ; and at 
its base grew ferns and wild flowers, some of 
which crept quite over its surface. To all ap- 
pearance, the rock was as firmly fastened as any 
other portion of the earths substance. 

But, difficult as the matter looked, Theseus 
was now growing up to be such a vigorous 
youth, that, in his own opinion, the time would 
quickly come when he might hope to get the 
upper hand of this ponderous lump of stone. 

" Mother, I do believe it has started ! " cried 
he, after one of his attempts. " The eartb 
around it is certainly a little cracked!" 



THE MINOTAUR. 23 

* No, no, child!" his mother hastily answered. 
* It is not possible you can have moved it, 
such a boy as you still are ! " 

Nor would she be convinced, although The- 
seus showed her the place where he fancied that 
the stem of a flower had been partly uprooted 
by the movement of the rock. But ^Ethra 
sighed, and looked disquieted ; for, no doubt, 
she began to be conscious that her son was 
no longer a child, and that, in a little while 
hence, she must send him forth among the 
perils and troubles of the world. 

It was not more than a year afterwards when 
they were again sitting on the moss-covered 
stone. iEthra had once more told him the oft- 
repeated story of his father, and how gladly he 
would receive Theseus at his stately palace, and 
how he would present him to his courtiers and 
the people, and tell them that here was the heir 
of his dominions. The eyes of Theseus glowed 
with enthusiasm, and he would hardly sit still to 
hear his mother speak. 

" Dear mother ^Ethra," he exclaimed, "I nevei 
felt half so strong as now! I am no longer a 
child, nor a boy, nor a mere youth '. I feel my* 



24 THE MINOTAUR. 

self a man ! It is now time to make one earnest 
trial to remove the stone." 

" Ah, my dearest Theseus," replied his mother, 
" not yet ! not yet ! " 

" Yes, mother," said he, resolutely, " the time 
has come . " 

Then Theseus bent himself in good earnest to 
the task, and strained every sinew, with manly 
strength and resolution. He put his whole brave 
heart into the effort. He wrestled with the big 
and sluggish stone, as if it had been a living 
enemy. He heaved, he lifted, he resolved now 
to succeed, or else to perish there, and let the 
rock be his monument forever! iEthra stood 
gazing at him, and clasped her hands, partly 
with a mother's pride, and partly with a mother's 
sorrow. The great rock stirred! Yes, it was 
raised slowly from the bedded moss and earth, 
uprooting the shrubs and flowers along with it, 
and was turned upon its side. Theseus had 
conquered f 

While taking breath, he looked joyfully at his 
mother, and she smiled upon him through her 
tears. 

u Yes, Theseus," she said, " the time has «i >mp 



THE MINOTAUR. 25 

di\i you must stay no longer at my side! See 
what King iEgeus, your royal father, left for 
you, beneath the stone, when he lifted it in his 
mighty arms, and laid it on the spot whence 
you have now removed it." 

Theseus looked, and saw that the rock had 
been placed over another slab of stone, contain- 
ing a cavity within it; so that it somewhat 
resembled a roughly-made chest or coffer, of 
which the upper mass had served as the lid. 
Within the cavity lay a sword, with a golden 
hilt, and a pair of sandals. 

" That was your father's sword," said iEthra, 
" and those were his sandals. When he went to 
be king of Athens, he bade me treat you as a 
child until you should prove yourself a man by 
lifting this heavy stone. That task being accom- 
plished, you are to put on his sandals, in order 
to. follow in your father's footsteps, and to gird 
on his sword, so that you may fight giants and 
dragons, as King iEgeus did in his youth." 

"I will set out for Athens this very day!" 
cried Theseus. 
• But his mother persuaded him to stay a day 
or two longer, while she got ready some neces- 



26 THE MINOTAUR. 

sary articles for his journey. When his grand 
father, the wise King Pittheus, heard that The- 
seus intended to present himself at his father's 
palace, he earnestly advised him to get on board 
of a vessel, and go by sea; because he migh* 
thus arrive within fifteen miles of Athens, with- 
out either fatigue or danger. 

" The roads are very bad by land," quoth the 
venerable king ; " and they are terribly infested 
with robbers and monsters. A mere lad, like 
Theseus, is not fit to be trusted on such a peril- 
ous journey, all by himself. No, no ; let him go 
by sea ! " 

But when Theseus heard of robbers and mon- 
sters, he pricked up his ears, and was so much 
the more eager to take the road along which 
they were to be met with. On the third day, 
therefore, he bade a respectful farewell to his 
grandfather, thanking him for all his kindness ; 
and, after affectionately embracing his mother, 
he set forth, with a good many of her tears glis- 
tening on his cheeks, and some, if the truth 
must be told, that had gushed out of his own 
eyes. But he let the sun and wind dry them, 
and walk id stoutly on, playing with the golden 



THE MINOTAUR. 27 

hilt of his sword, and taking very manly strides 
in his father's sandals. 

I cannot stop to tell you hardly any of the ad- 
ventures that befell Theseus on the road to 
Athens It is enough to say, that he quite cleared 
that part of the country of the robbers, about 
whom King Pittheus had been so much alarmed. 
One of these bad people was named Procrustes ; 
and he was indeed a terrible fellow, and had 
an ugly way of making fun of the poor travellers 
who happened to fall into his clutches. In his 
cavern he had a bed, on which, with great pre- 
tence of hospitality, he invited his guests to lie 
down ; but if they happened to be shorter than 
the bed, this wicked villain stretched them out by 
main force ; or, if they were too tall, he lopped 
oft" their heads or feet, and laughed at what he 
had done, as an excellent joke. Thus, however 
weary a man might be, he never liked to lie in 
the bed of Procrustes. Another of these robbers, 
named Scinis, must likewise have been a very 
great scoundrel. He was in the habit of fling- 
ing his victims off a hign cliff into the sea ; and, 
in order to give him exactly his deserts, Theseus 
tossed him off the very same place. But if yon 



SO THE MINOTAUR. 

will believe me, the sea would not pollute itself 
by receiving such a bad person into its bosom 
neither would the earth, having once got rid of 
him, consent to take him back ; so that, between 
the cliff and the sea, Scinis stuck fast in the air, 
which was forced to bear the burden of his 
naughtiness. 

After these memorable deeds, Theseus heard 
of an enormous sow, which ran wild, and was 
the terror of all the farmers round about ; and, 
as he did not consider himself above doing any 
good thing that came in his way, he killed this 
monstrous creature, and gave the carcass to the 
poor people for bacon. The great sow had been 
an awful beast, while ramping about the woods 
and fields, but was a pleasant object enough 
when cut up into joints, and smoking on 1 
know not how many dinner tables. 

Thus, by the time he reached his journey's 
end, Theseus had done many valiant feats 
with his father's golden-hilted sword, and had 
gained the renown of being one of the bravest 
young men of the day. His fame travelled 
faster than he did, and reached Athens before 
him. As he entered the city, he heard th 



THE MINOTAUR. 29 

inhabitants talking at the street corners, and 
aaying that Hercules was brave, and Jason too, 
and Cantor and Pollux likewise, but that The- 
seus, the son of their own king, would turn out 
as great a hero as the best of them. Theseus 
took longer strides on hearing this, and fancied 
himself sure of a magnificent reception at hia 
father's court, since he came thither with Fame 
to blow her trumpet before him, and cry to ffing 
iEgeus, " Behold your son ! " 

He little suspected, innocent youth that he 
was, that here, in this very Athens, where Ins 
father reigned, a greater danger awaited him 
than any which he had encountered on the road. 
Yet this was the truth. You must understand 
that the father of Theseus, though not very old 
in years, was almost worn out with the cares of 
government, and had thus grown aged before 
his time. His nephews, not expecting him to 
live a very great while, intended to get all the 
power of the kingdom into their own hands. But 
when they heard that Theseus had arrived in 
Athens, and learned what a gallant young man 
he was, they saw that he would not be at all the 
kind of person to let them steal away his father's 



so 



THE MINOTAUR. 



crown and sceptre, which ought to be his own 
by right of inheritance. Thus these bad-hearteo 
nephews ol King iEgeus, who were the own 
cousins of Tneseus, at once became his enemies. 
A still more dangerous enemy was Medea, the 
wicked enchantress ; for she was now the king's 
wife, and w T anted to give the kingdom to hei 
son Medus, instead of letting it be given to the 
son of iEthra, whom she hated. 

It so happened that the king's nephews met 
Theseus, and found c^t who he was, just as he 
reached the entrance of the royal palace. With 
all their evil designs against him, they pretended 
to be their cousin's best friends, and expressed 
great joy at making his acquaintance. They 
proposed to him that he should come into the 
king's presence as a stranger, in order to trv 
whether iEgeus would discover in the young 
man's features any likeness either to himself or 
his mother iEthra, and thus recognize him for a 
son. Theseus consented; for he fancied that 
his father would know him in a moment, by Ihe 
love that was in his heart. But, while he wailed 
at the door, the nephews ran and told King 
/Egsus that a young man had arrived in Athens 



THE MINOTAUR. ^1 

who, to their certain knowledge, intended tc put 
him to death, and get possession of his royal 
crown. 

" And he is now waiting for admission to 
your majesty's presence," added they. 

" Aha ! ' ?<ried the old king, on hearing this. 
" Why, he must be a very wicked young fellow 
indeed! Pray, what would you advise me to do 
with him ? " 

In reply to this question, the wicked Medea 
put in her word. As I have already told you, she 
was a famous enchantress. According to some 
stories, she was in the habit of boiling old people 
in a large caldron, under pretence of making 
them young again ; but King iEgeus, I suppose, 
did not fancy such an uncomfortable way of 
growing young, or perhaps was contented to be 
old, and therefore would never let himself be 
popped into the caldron. If there were time to 
spare from more important matters, I should be 
glad to tell you of Medea's fiery chariot, drawn 
by winged dragons, in which the enchantress used 
often to take an airing among the clouds. This 
chariot, in fact, was the vehicle that first brought 
her to Athens, where she had done nothing but 



J2 THE MINOTAUR. 

mischief ever since her arrival. But these and 
many other wonders must be left untold ; and it 
is enough to say, that Medea, amongst a thou- 
sand other bad things, knew how to prepare a 
poison, that was instantly fatal to whomsoever 
might so much as touch it with his lips. 

So, when the king asked what he should do 
with Theseus, this naughty woman had an 
answer ready at her tongue's end. 

" Leave that to me, please your majesty," she 
replied. " Only admit this evil-minded young 
man to your presence, treat him civilly, and in- 
vite him to drink a goblet of wine. Your ma- 
jesty is well aware that I sometimes amuse 
myself with distilling very powerful medicines 
Here is one of them in this small phial. As to 
what it is made of, that is one of my secrets of 
state. Do but let me put a single drop into the 
goblet, and let the young man taste it ; and ] 
will answer for it, he shall quite lay aside the 
bad designs with which he comes hither." 

As she said this, Medea smiled ; but, for all 
her smiling face, she meant nothing less than to 
poison the poor innocent Theseus, before his 
father's eyes. And King JEgeus, like most othei 



THE MINOTAUR. 33 

kings thought any punishment mild enough for 
a person who was accused of plotting against 
his life. He therefore made little or no objec- 
tion to Medea's scheme, and as soon as the 
poisonous wine was ready, gave orders that the 
young stranger should be admitted into his 
presence. The goblet was set on a table 
beside the king's throne ; and a fly, meaning 
just to sip a little from the brim, immediately 
tumbled into it, dead. Observing this, Medea 
looked round at the nephews, and smiled again. 
When Theseus was ushered into the royal 
apartment, the only object that he seemed to 
behold was the white-bearded old king. There 
he sat on his magnificent throne, a dazzling 
crown on his head, and a sceptre in his hand. 
His aspect was stately and majestic, although 
his years and infirmities weighed heavily upon 
him, as if each year were a lump of lead, and 
each infirmity a ponderous stone, and all were 
bundled up together, and laid upon his weary 
shoulders. The tears both of joy and sorrow 
sprang into the young man's eyes ; for he thought 
how sad it was to see his dear father so infirm, 
and how sweet it would be to support him with 
3 



34 THE MINOTAUR. 

his own youthful strength, and to cheer him up 
with the alacrity of his loving spirit. When a 
son takes his father into his warm heart, it 
renews the old man's youth in a better way 
than by the heat of Medea's magic caldron. 
And this was what Theseus resolved to do. He 
could scarcely wait to see whether King iEgeus 
would recognize him, so eager was he to throw 
himself into his arms. 

Advancing to the foot of the throne, he at- 
tempted to make a little speech, which he had 
been thinking about, as he came up the stairs. 
But he was almost choked by a great many 
tender feelings that gushed out of his heart 
and swelled into his throat, all struggling to find 
utterance together. And therefore, unless he 
could have laid his full, over-brimming heait 
into the king's hand, poor Theseus knew not 
what to do or say. The cunning Medea ob- 
served what was passing in the young man's, 
mind. She was more wicked at that moment 
than ever she had been before ; for (and it makes 
me tremble to tell you of it) she did her w r orst 
to turn all this unspeakable love with which 
Theseus was agitated, to his own ruin and 
destruction. 



THE MINOTAUR. 35 

" Does your majesty see his confusion?" she 
whispered in the king's ear. "He is so con 
scious of guilt, that he trembles and cannof 
speak. The wretch lives too long! Quick ! 
offer him the wine!" 

Now King iEgeus had been gazing earnestly 
at the young stranger, as he drew near the 
throne. There was something, he knew not 
what, either in his white brow, or in the fine 
expression of his mouth, or in his beautiful and 
tender eyes, that made him indistinctly feel as if 
lie had seen this youth before ; as if, indeed, he 
had trotted him on his knee when a baby, and 
had beheld him growing to be a stalwart man, 
while he himself grew old. But Medea guessed 
how the king felt, and would not suffer him to 
yield to these natural sensibilities ; although 
they were the voice of his deepest heart, telling 
him, as plainly as it could speak, that here was 
our dear son, and iEthra's son, coming to claim 
him for a father. The enchantress again whis 
pered in the king's ear, and compelled him, by hei 
witchcraft, to see every thing under a false asDect 

He made up his mind, therefore, to let Theseus 
irink off the poisoned wine. 



36 THE MINOTAUR. 

" Young man," said he, " you are welcome ! 
I am proud to show hospitality to so heroic a 
youth. Do me the favor to drink the contents 
of this goblet Tt is brimming over, as you see, 
with delicious wine, such as I bestow only on 
those who are worthy of it! None is more wor- 
thy to quaff it than yourself!" 

So saying, King ^Egeus took the golden gob- 
let from the table, and was about to offer it to 
Theseus. But, partly through his infirmities, 
and partly because it seemed so sad a thing to 
take away this young man's life, however wicked 
he might be, and partly, no doubt, because his 
heart was wiser than his head, and quaked with- 
in him at the thought of what he was going to 
do — for all these reasons, the king's hand trem- 
bled so much that a great deal of the wine 
slopped over. In order to strengthen his pur- 
pose, and fearing lest the whole of the precious 
poison should be wasted, one of his nephews 
now whispered to him, — 

" Has your majesty any doubt cl this stran- 
ger's guilt? There is the very sword with 
which he meant to slay you. How sharp, and 
bright, and terrible it is ! Quick I — let him 



THE MINOTAUR. 



37 



taste tne wine ; or perhaps he may do the deed 
Bven yet." 

At these words, iEgeus drove every thought 
and feeling out of his breast, except the one idea 
of how justly the young man deserved to be put 
to death. He sat erect on his throne, and held 
out the goblet of wine with a steady hand, and 
bent on Theseus a frown of kingly severity; for, 
after all, he had too noble a spirit to murder 
even a treacherous enemy with a deceitful smile 
upon his face. 

" Drink!" said he, in the stern tone with which 
he was wont to condemn a criminal to be be- 
headed. " You have well deserved of me such 
wine as this ! " 

Theseus held out his hand to take the wine. 
But, before he touched it, King ^Egeus trembled 
again. His eyes had fallen on the gold-hilted 
sword that hung at the young man's side. He 
drew back the goblet. 

" That sword ! " he exclaimed ; " how came 
you by it?" 

" It was my father's sword," replied Theseus 
with a tremulous voice. " These were his san- 
dals. My dear mother (her name is iEthra) told 



38 THE MINOTAUK. 

me his story while I was yet a little child. But 
it is only a month since I grew strong enough 
to lift the heavy stone, and take the sword and 
sandals from beneath it, and come to Athens to 
seek my father." 

" My son ! my son ! " cried King ^Egeus, fling- 
ing away the fatal goblet, and tottering down 
from the throne to fall into the arms of Theseus. 
" Yes, these are iEthra's eyes. It is my son.'' 

I have quite forgotten what became of thp 
king's nephews. But when the wicked Medea 
saw this new turn of affairs, she hurried out of 
the room, and going to her private chamber, lost 
no time in setting her enchantments at work. In 
a few moments, she heard a great noise of hissing 
snakes outside of the chamber window ; and, 
behold ! there was her fiery chariot, and four 
huge winged serpents, wriggling and twisting m 
the air, flourishing their tails higher than the 
top of the palace, and all ready to set off on an 
aerial journey. Medea staid only long enough to 
take her son with her, and to steal the crown 
jewels, together with the king's best robes, ana 
whatever other valuable things she could lay 
hands on ; and getting into the chariot, shp 



. THE MINOTAUR. 39 

whipped up the snakes, and ascended high ovei 
the city. 

The king, hearing the hiss of the serpent-, 
scrambled as fast as he could to the window, 
and bawled out to the abominable enchantress 
never to come back. The whole people of 
Athens, too, who had run out of doors to see 
this wonderful spectacle, set up a shout of joy 
at the prospect of getting rid of her. Medea, 
almost bursting with rage, uttered precisely such 
a hiss as one of her own snakes, only ten times 
more venomous and spiteful ; and glaring fierce- 
ly out of the blaze of the chariot, she shook her 
hands over the multitude below, as if she were 
scattering a million of curses among them. In 
so doing, however, she unintentionally let fall 
about five hundred diamonds of the first water, 
together with a thousand great pearls, and two 
thousand emeralds, rubies, sapphires, opals, and 
topazes, to which she had helped herself out of 
the king's strong box. All these came pelting 
down, like a shower of many-colored hailstones, 
upon the heads of grown people and children, 
who forthwith gathered them up, and carried 
them back to the palace, Bat King /Egeus told 



40 THE MINOTAUR. 

them that they were welcome to the whole, and 
to twice as many more, if he had them, for the 
sake of his delight at finding his son, and losing 
the wicked Medea. And, indeed, if you had 
seen how hateful was her last look, as the flam- 
ing chariot flew upward, you would not have 
wondered that both king and people should 
think her departure a good riddance. 

And now Prince Theseus was taken into great 
favor by his royal father. The old king was 
never weary of having him sit beside him on his 
throne, (which was quite wide enough for two,) 
and of hearing him tell about his dear mother, 
and his childhood, and his many boyish efforts 
to lift the ponderous stone. Theseus, however, 
was much too brave and active a young man to 
be willing to spend all his time in relating things 
which had already happened. His ambition 
was to perform other and more heroic deeds, 
which should be better worth telling in prose 
and verse. Nor had he been long in Athens be- 
fore he caught and chained a terrible mad bull, 
and made a public show of him, greatly to the 
wonder and admiration of good King iEgeus 
and his subjects. But pretty soon, he undertook 



THE MINOTAUR. 41 

an affair that made all his foregone adventures 
Beem like mere boy's play. The occasion of it 
was as follows : — 

One morning, when Prince Theseus awoke, he 
fancied that he must have had a very sorrowful 
dream, and that it was still running in his mind, 
even now that his eyes were open. For it ap- 
peared as if the air was full of a melancholy 
wail ; and when he listened more attentively, he 
could hear sobs, and groans, and screams of 
woe, mingled with deep, quiet sighs, which came 
from the king's palace, and from the streets, and 
from the temples, and from every habitation in 
the city. And all these mournful noises, issuing 
out of thousands of separate hearts, united them- 
selves into the one great sound of affliction, 
which had startled Theseus from slumber. He 
put on his clothes as quickly as he could, (not 
forgetting his sandals and gold-hilted sword,) 
and hastening to the king, inquired what it all 
meant. 

" Alas ! my son," quoth King iEgeus, heaving 
a long sigh, " here is a very lamentable matter 
in hand! This is the wofulest anniversary in 
the whole year It is the day when we annuallv 



42 THE MINOTAUR. 

draw lots to see which of the youths and 
maidens of Athens shall go to be devoured by 
the horrible Minotaur ! " 

" The Minotaur!" exclaimed Prince Theseus* 
and like a brave young prince as he was, he 
put his hand to the hilt of his sword. " What 
kind of a monster may that be ? Is it not 
possible, at the risk of one's life, to slay him ? " 

But King iEgeus shook his venerable head, 
and to convince Theseus that it was quite a 
hopeless case, he gave him an explanation of 
the whole affair. It seems that in the Island 
of Crete there lived a certain dreadful monster, 
called a Minotaur, which was shaped partly like 
a man and partly like a bull, and was altogether 
such a hideous sort of a creature that it is really 
disagreeable to think of him. If he were suffered 
to exist at all, it should have been on some 
desert island, or in the duskiness of some deep 
cavern, where nobody would ever be tormented 
by his abominable aspect. But King Minos, 
who reigned over Crete, laid out a vast deal 
of money in building a habitation for the 
Minotaur, and took great care of his health 
and comfort, merely for mischief's sake. A 



THE MINOTAUR 43 

few years before this time, there had been a 
war between the city of Athens and the island 
of Crete, in which the Athenians were beaten, 
and compelled to beg for peace. No peace 
could they obtain, however, except on condition 
that they should send seven young men and 
seven maidens, every year, to be devoured 
by the pet monster of the cruel King Minos. 
For three years past, this grievous calamity 
had been borne. And the sobs, and groans, 
and shrieks, with which the city was now filled, 
were caused by the people's woe, because the 
fatal day had come again, when the fourteen 
victims were to be chosen by lot; and the old 
people feared lest their sons or daughters might 
be taken, and the youths and damsels dreaded 
lest they themselves might be destined to glut 
the ravenous maw of that detestable man- 
brute. 

But when Theseus heard the story, he straight- 
ened himself up, so that he seemed taller than 
ever before ; and as for his lace, it was indig- 
nant, despiteful, bold, tender, and compassion- 
ate, all in one look. 

" Let the people of Athens, this year, draw 



44 THE MINOTAUR. 

lots for only six young men, instead of seven* 
said he. " I will myself be the seventh ; and 
let the Minotaur devour me, if he can ! " 

" O my dear son," cried King iEgeus, " why 
should you expose yourself to this horrible fate ? 
You are a royal prince, and have a right to hold 
yourself above the destinies of common men." 

" It is because I am a prince, your son, and 
the rightful heir of your kingdom, that I freely 
take upon me the calamity of your subjects," 
answered Theseus. " And you my father, being 
king over this people, and answerable to Heaven 
for their welfare, are bound to sacrifice what is 
dearest to you, rather than that the son or 
daughter of the poorest citizen should come to 
any harm." 

The old king shed tears, and besought Theseus 
not to leave him desolate in his old age, more 
especially as he had but just begun to know the 
happiness of possessing a good and valiant son. 
Theseus, however, felt that he was in the right, 
and therefore would not give up his resolution 
But he assured his father that he did not intend 
to be eaten up, unresistingly, like a sheep, and 
that, if the Minotaur devoured him, it should 



THE MINOTAUR. 45 

not be without a battle for his dinner. And 
finally, since he could not help it, King iEgeua 
consented to let him go. So a vessel was got 
ready, and rigged with black sails ; and Theseus, 
with six other young men, and seven tender 
and beautiful damsels, came down to the harbor 
to embark. A sorrowful multitude accompa- 
nied them to the shore. There was the poor 
old king, too, leaning on his son's arm, and 
looking as if his single heart held all the grief 
of Athens. 

Just as Prince Theseus was going on board, 
his father bethought himself of one last word 
to say. 

" My beloved son," said he, grasping the 
prince's hand, " you observe that the sails of 
this vessel are Dlack ; as indeed they ought to 
be, since it goes upon a voyage of sorrow and 
despair. Now, being weighed down with in- 
firmities, 1 know not whether I can survive till 
the vessel shall return. But, as long as I do 
live, 1 shall creep daily to the top of yonder 
diff, to watch if there be a sail upon the sea. 
And, dearest Theseus, if, by some happy chance, 
you should escape the jaws of the Minotaur, 



Iti THE MINOTAUR. 

then tear down those dismal sails, and noist 
others that shall be bright as the sunshine. 
Beholding them on the horizon, myself and all 
the people will know that you are earning back 
victorious, and will welcome you with such a 
festal uproar as Athens never heard before." 

Theseus promised that he would do so. Then, 
going on board, the mariners trimmed the ves- 
sel's black sails to the wind, which blew faintly 
off the shore, being pretty much made up of 
the sighs that every body kept pouring forth on 
this melancholy occasion. But by and by, 
when they had got fairly out to sea, there came 
a stiff breeze from the north-west, and drove 
them along as merrily over the white-capped 
waves as if they had been going on the most 
delightful errand imaginable. And though it 
was a sad business enough, I rather question 
whether fourteen young people, without any 
old persons to keep them in order, could con- 
tinue to spend the whole time of the voyage 
in being miserable. There had been some few 
dances upon the undulating deck, I suspect, 
and some hearty bursts of laughter, and other 
such unseasonable merriment among the vie- 



THE MINOTAUR. 47 

tims, before the high, blue mountains of Crete 
began to show themselves among the far-off 
clouds. That sight, to be sure, made them all 
very grave again. 

Theseus stood among the sailors, gazing ea- 
gerly towards the land; although, as yet, i1 
seemed hardly more substantial than the clouds, 
amidst which the mountains were looming up. 
Once or twice, he fancied that he saw a glare 
of some bright object, a long way off, flinging a 
gleam across the waves. 

" Did you see that flash of light ? " he inquired 
of the master of the vessel. 

" No, prince ; but I have seen it before," an- 
swered the master. " It came from Talus, I 
suppose." 

As the breeze came fresher just then, the 
master was busy with trimming his sails, and 
had no more time to answer questions. But 
while the vessel flew faster and faster towards 
Crete, Theseus was astonished to behold a hu- 
man figure, gigantic in size, which appeared to 
be striding, with a measured movement, along 
the margin of the island. It stepped from cliff 
to cliff, and sometimes from one headland to 



48 THE MINOTAUR. 

another, while the sea foamed and thundered on 
the shore beneath, and dashed its jets of spray 
over the giant's feet. What was still more re- 
markable, whenever the sun shone on this huge 
figure, it flickered and glimmered ; its vast coun- 
tenance, too, had a metallic lustre, and threw 
great flashes of splendor through the air. The 
folds of its garments, moreover, instead of waving 
in the wind, fell heavily over its limbs, as if 
woven of some kind of metal. 

The nigher the vessel came, the more Theseus 
wondered what this immense giant could be 
and whether it actually had life or no. For 
though it walked, and made other lifelike mo 
tions, there yet was a kind of jerk in its gait, 
which, together with its brazen aspect, caused 
the young prince to suspect that it was no true 
giant, but only a wonderful piece of machinery. 
The figure looked all the more terrible because 
it carried an enormous brass club on its shoulder. 

" What is this wonder ? " Theseus asked of 
the master of the vessel, who was now at leisure 
to answer him. 

"It is Talus, the Man of Brass," said the 
master. 



THE MINOTAUR. 49 

" And is he a live giant, or a brazen image?" 
asked Theseus. 

"That, truly," replied the master, "is the 
point which has always perplexed me. Some 
say, indeed, that this Talus was hammered out 
for King Minos by Vulcan himself, the skilfulest 
of all workers in metal. But who ever saw a 
brazen image that had sense enough to walk 
round an island three times a day, as this giant 
walks round the Island of Crete, challenging 
every vessel that comes nigh the shore ? And, 
on the other hand, what living thing, unless his 
sinews were made of brass, would not be weary 
of marching eighteen hundred miles in the 
twenty-four hours, as Talus does, without ever 
sitting down to rest? He is a puzzler, take him 
how you will." 

Still the vessel went bounding onward; and 
now Theseus could hear the brazen clangor of 
the giant's footsteps, as he trod heavily upon 
the sea-beaten rocks, some of which were seen 
to crack and crumble into the foamy waves be- 
neath his weight. As they approached the en- 
trance of the port, the giant straddled clear 
across it, with a foot firmly planted on each 
4 



50 THE MINOTAUR. 

headland, and uplifting his club to such a height 
that its but-end was hidden in a cloud, he stood 
in that formidable posture, with the sun gleam- 
ing all over his metallic surface. There seemed 
nothing else to be expected but that, the nexl 
moment, he would fetch his great club down, 
slam bang, and smash the vessel into a thousand 
pieces, without heeding how many innocent 
people he might destroy ; for there is seldom any 
mercy in a giant, you know, and quite as little 
in a piece of brass clockwork. But just when 
Theseus and his companions thought the blow 
was coming, the brazen lips unclosed themselves, 
and the figure spoke. 

" Whence come you, strangers ? " 

And when the ringing voice ceased, there was 
just such a reverberation as you may have heard 
within a great church bell, for a moment or two 
after the stroke of the hammer. 

" From Athens! " shouted the master in reply. 

" On what errand ? " thundered the Man of 
Brass. 

And he whirled his club aloft more threaten 
ingly than ever, as if he were about to smite 
them with a thunderstroke right amidships, be 



TH i MINOTAUR. 51 

cause Athens, so little while ago, had been at 
war witn Crete. 

" We bring the seven youths and the seven 
maidens," answered the master, " to be devoured 
by the Minotaur ! " 

" Pass ! " cried the brazen giant. 

That one loud word rolled all about the sky, 
while again there was a booming reverberation 
within the figure's breast. The vessel glided 
between the headlands of the port, and the giant 
resumed his march. In a few moments, this 
wondrous sentinel was far away, flashing in 
the distant sunshine, and revolving with im 
mense strides around the Island of Oete, as it 
was his never-ceasing task to do. 

No sooner had they entered the harbor than a 
party of the guards of King Minos came down 
to the water side, and took charge of the four- 
teen young men and damsels. Surrounded by 
these armed warriors, Prince Theseus and his 
companions were led to the king's palace, and 
ushered into his presence. Now, Minos was 
a stern and pitiless king. If the figure that 
guarded Crete was made of brass, then the mon- 
arch, who ruled over it, might be thought to 



52 THE MINOTAUR. 

have a still harder metal in his breast, and might 
have been called a man of iron. He bent hia 
shaggy brows upon the poor Athenian victims. 
Any other mortal, beholding their fresh and ten- 
der beauty, and their innocent looks, would have 
felt himsell sitting on thorns until he had made 
every soul of them happy, by bidding them go 
free as the summer wind. But this immitigabie 
Minos cared only to examine whether they were 
plump enough to satisfy the Minotaur's appetite. 
For my part, I wish he himself had been the 
only victim ; and the monster would have found 
him a pretty tough one. 

One after another, King Minos called these 
pale, frightened youths and sobbing maidens to 
his footstool, gave them each a poke in the ribs 
with his sceptre, (to try whether they were in 
good flesh or no,) and dismissed them with a 
nod to his guards. But when his eyes rested on 
Theseus, the king looked at him more atten- 
tively, because his face was calm and brave. 

" Young man," asked he, with his stern voice, 
" are you not appalled at the certainty of being 
devoured by this terrible Minotaur ? " 

* I have offered my life in a good caus**." 



THE MINOTAUR. Otl 

answered Theseus, " and therefore I give it 
freely and gladly. But thou, King Minos, art 
thou not thyself appalled, who, year after year, 
hast perpetrated this dreadful wrong, by giving 
seven innocent youths and as many maidens 
to be devoured by a monster ? Dost thou not 
tremble, wicked king, to turn thine eyes inward 
on thine own heart? Sitting there on thy golden 
throne, and in thy robes of majesty, I tell thee 
to thy face, King Minos, thou art a more hideous 
monster than the Minotaur himself!" 

" Aha ! do you think me so ? " cried the king, 
laughing in his cruel way. " To-morrow, at 
breakfast time, you shall have an opportuni- 
ty of judging which is the greater monster, 
the Minotaur cr the king ! Take them away, 
guards ; and let this free-spoken youth be the 
Minotaur's first morsel ! " 

Near the king's throne (though I had no 
time to tell you so before) stood his daughtei 
Ariadne. She was a beautiful and tender-heart- 
ed maiden, and looked at these poor doomed 
captives with very different feelings from those 
of the iron-breasted King Minos. She really 
wept indeed, at the idea of how much human 



f)4 THE MINOTAUR. 

happiness would be needlessly thrown away, by 
giving so many young people, in the first bloom 
and rose blossom of their lives, to be eaten up 
by a creature who, no doubt, would have pre- 
ferred a fat ox, or even a large pig, to the 
plumpest of them. And when she beheld the 
brave, spirited figure of Prince Theseus bearing 
himself so calmly in his terrible peril,- she grew 
a hundred times more pitiful than before. As 
the guards were taking him away, she flung 
herself at the king's feet, and besought him to 
set all the captives free, and especially this one 
young man. 

" Peace, foolish girl ! " answered King Minos. 
" What hast thou to do with an affair like this? 
It is a matter of state policy, and therefore quite 
beyond thy weak comprehension. Go water 
thy flowers, and think no more of these Athe- 
nian caitiffs, whom the Minotaur shall as cer 
tainly eat up for breakfast as I will eat a par- 
tridge for my supper." 

So saying, the king looked cruel enough tc 
devour Theseus and all the rest of the captives, 
himself, had there been no Minotaur to save him 
the trouble. As he would hear not another 



THE MINOTAUR. 55 

word iii their favor, the prisoners were now led 
away, and clapped into a dungeon, where the 
jailer advised them to go to sleep as soon as 
possible, because the Minotaur was in the habit 
of calling for breakfast early. The seven maid- 
ens and six of the young men soon sobbed 
themselves to slumber. But Theseus was not 
like them. He felt conscious that he was wiser, 
and braver, and stronger than his companions, 
and that therefore he had the responsibility of 
ail their lives upon him, and must consider 
whether there was no way to save them, even in 
this last extremity. So he kept himself awake, 
and paced to and fro across the gloomy dungeon 
in which they were shut up. 

Just before midnight, the door was softly un- 
barred, and the gentle Ariadne showed herself, 
with a torch in her hand. 

" Are you awake, Prince Theseus ? " she whis- 
pered. 

"Yes," answered Theseus. "With so little 
time to live, I do not choose to waste any of it 
in sleep." 

"Then follow me," said Ariadne, "and tread 
softly." 



56 THE MINOTAUR. 

What had become of the jailer and the guards, 
Theseus never knew. But, however that might 
be, Ariadne opened all the doors, and led him 
forth from the darksome prison into the pleasant 
moonlight. 

" Theseus," said the maiden, " you can row 
get on board your vessel, and sail away for 
Athens." 

" No," answered the young man ; " I will 
never leave Crete unless I can first slay the 
Minotaur, and save my poor companions, and 
deliver Athens from this cruel tribute." 

" I knew that this would be your resolution," 
said Ariadne. " Come, then, with me, brave 
Theseus. Here is your own sword, which the 
guards deprived you of. You will need it; and 
pray Heaven you may use it well." 

Then she led Theseus along by the hand un- 
til they came to a dark, shadowy grove, where 
the moonlight wasted itself on the tops of the 
trees, without shedding hardly so much as a 
glimmering beam upon their pathway. After 
going a good way through this obscurity, they 
reached a high, marble wall, which was over- 
grown with creeping plants, that made it shaggy 



THE M1NOT-VUR. 57 

with their verdure. The wall seemed to have 
no door, nor any. windows, but rose up, lofty, 
and massive, and mysterious, and was neither 
to be clambered over, nor, so far as Theseus 
could perceive, to be passed through. Neverthe- 
less, Ariadne did but pres« one of her soft little 
fingers against a particular block of marble, and, 
though it looked as solid as any other part of 
the wall, it yielded to her touch, disclosing 
an entrance just wide enough to admit them. 
They crept through, and the marble stone swung 
back into its place. 

" We are now," said Ariadne, " in the famous 
labyrinth which Daedalus built before he made 
himself a pair of wings, and flew away from our 
island like a bird. That Daedalus was a very 
cunning workman; but of all his artful con- 
trivances, this labyrinth is the most wondrous 
Were we to take but a few steps from the door- 
way, we might wander about all our lifetime > 
and never find it again. Yet in the very centre 
of this labyrinth is the Minotaur; and, Theseus, 
you must go thither to seek him." 

" But how shall I ever find him," asked The- 
geus, " if the labyrinth so bewilders me as you 
say it will ? " 



58 



THE MINOTAUR. 



Just as he spoke, they heard a rough and very 
disagreeable roar, which greatly resembled the 
lowing of a fierce bull, but yet had some sort of 
sound like the human voice. Theseus even fan* 
cied a rude articulation in it, as if the creature that 
uttered it were trying to shape his hoarse breath 
into words. It was at some distance, however, 
and he really could not tell whether it sounded 
most like a bull's roar or a man's harsh voice. 

" That is the Minotaur's noise," whispered 
Ariadne, closely grasping the hand. of Theseus, 
and pressing one of her own hands to her heart, 
which was all in a tremble. " You must follow 
that sound through the windings of the labyrinth, 
and, by and by, you will find him: Stay ! take 
the end of this silken string ; I will hold the other 
end ; and then, if you win the victory, it will 
lead you again to this spot. Farewell, brave 
Theseus." 

So the young man took the end of the silken 
string in his left hand, and his gold-hilted sword, 
ready drawn from its scabbard, in the other, and 
trod boldly into the inscrutable labyrinth. How 
this labyrinth was built is more than I can tel 
you. But so cunningly contrived a mizmaze 



THE MINOTAUR. 59 

was never seen in the world, before nor since. 
There can be nothing else so intricate, unless it 
were tLo brain of a man like Daedalus, who 
planned it, or the heart of any ordinary man ; 
which last, to be sure, is ten times as great a 
mystery as the labyrinth of Crete. Theseus had 
not taken five steps before he lost sight of Ari- 
adnr ; and in five more his head was growing 
dizz\. But still he went on; now creeping 
through a low arch, now ascending a flight of 
steps, now in one crooked passage, and now in 
another, with here a door opening before him, 
and there one banging behind, until it really 
seemed as if the walls spun round, and whirled 
him round along with them. And all the while, 
through these hollow avenues, now nearer, now 
farther off again, resounded the cry of the Mino- 
taur; and the pound was so fierce, so cruel, so 
ugly, so like a bull's roar, and withal so like a 
human voice, and yet like neither of them, that 
the brave heart of Theseus grew sterner and 
angrier at every step ; for he felt it an insult 
to the moon and sky, and to our affectionate 
and simple Mother Earth, that such a nionstei 
should have the audacity to exist 



bO THE MINOTAUR. 

As he passed or.ward, the clouds gathered 
over the moon, and the labyrinth grew so dusky 
that Theseus could no longer discern the bewil- 
derment through which he was passing. He 
would have felt quite lost, and utterly hopeless 
of ever again walking in a straight path, if, 
every little while, he had not been conscious ol 
a gentle twitch at the silken cord. Then he 
knew that the tender-hearted Ariadne was still 
holding the other end, and that she was fearing 
for him, and hoping for him, and giving him 
just as much of her sympathy as if she were 
close by his side. O, indeed, I can assure you, 
there was a vast deal of human sympathy run- 
ning along that slender thread of silk. But still 
he followed the dreadful roar of the Minotaur, 
which now grew louder and louder, and finally 
so very loud that Theseus fully expected to 
come close upon him, at every new zigzag and 
wriggle of the path. And at last, in an open 
space, at the very centre of the labyrinth, he did 
discern the hideous creature. 

Sure enough, what an ugly monster it was ! 
Omy his horned head belonged to a bull ; and 
yet, somehow or other, he looked like a bull ali 



THE MiNOTAUR. 61 

over, preposterously waddling on his hind legs ; 
or if you happened to view him in another way, 
he seemed wholly a man, and all the more mon- 
strous for being so. And there he was, the 
wretched thing, with no society, no companion, 
no kind of a mate, living only to do mischief, 
and incapable of knowing what affection means. 
Theseus hated him, and shuddered at him, and 
yet could not but be sensible of some sort of 
pity ; and all the more, the uglier and more de- 
testable the creature was. For he kept striding 
to and fro, in a solitary frenzy of rage, continu- 
ally emitting a hoarse roar, which was oddly 
mixed up with half-shaped words; and, after 
listening a while, Theseus understood that the 
Minotaur was saying to himself how miserable 
he was, and how hungry, and how he hated 
every body, and how he longed to eat up the 
human race alive. 

Ah, the bull-headed villain ! And O, my good 
little people, you will perhaps see, one of these 
days, as I do now, that every human being who 
suffers any thing evil to get into his nature, or 
to remain there, is a kind of Minotaur, an ene- 
my of his fellow-creatures, and separated from 



62 THE MINOTAUR- 

all good companionship, as this poor monster 
was. 

Was Theseus afraid ? By no means, my deai 
auditors. What ! a hero like Theseus afraid ] 
Not had the Minotaur had twenty bull heads 
instead of one. Bold as he was, however, .1 
rather fancy that it strengthened his valiant 
heart, just at this crisis, to feel a tremulous 
twitch at the silken cord, which he was still hold- 
ing in his left hand. It was as if Ariadne were 
giving him all her might and courage ; and, 
much as he already had, and little as she had 
to give, it made his own seem twice as much. 
And to confess the honest truth, he needed the 
whole; for now the Minotaur, turning suddenly 
about, caught sight of Theseus, and instantly 
lowered his horribly sharp horns, exactly as a 
mad bull does when he means to rush against 
an enemy. At the same time, he belched forth 
a tremendous roar, in which there was some- 
thing like the words of human language, but 
all disjointed and shaken to pieces by passing 
through the gullet of a miserably enraged brute. 

Theseus could only guess what the creature 
intended to say, and that rather by his gestures 



THE MINOTAUR. 6^ 

than his words ; for the Minotaur's horns were 
sharper than his wits, and of a great deal more 
service to him than his tongue. But probably 
this was the sense of what he uttered : — 

" Ah, wretch of a human being ! I'll stick my 
horns through you, and toss you fifty feet high, 
and eat you up the moment you come down." 

" Come on, then, and try it ! " was all thai 
Theseus deigned to reply ; for he was far too 
magnanimous to assault his enemy with inso- 
lent language. 

Without more words on either side, there en- 
sued the most awful fight between Theseus and 
the Minotaur that ever happened beneath the 
sun or moon. I really know not how it might 
have turned out, if the monster, in his first head- 
long rush against Theseus, had not missed him, 
by a hair's breadth, and broken one of his horns 
short off against the stone wall. On this mis- 
hap, he bellowed so intolerably that a part of 
the labyrinth tumbled down, and all the in- 
habitants of Crete mistook the noise for an 
uncommonly heavy thunder storm. Smarting 
with the pain, he galloped around the open 
space in so ridiculous a way that Theseus 



64 THE MINOTAUR. 

laughed at it, long afterwards, though not pre- 
cisely at the moment. After this, the two an- 
tagonists stood valiantly up to one another, and 
fought, sword to horn, for a long while. At 
last, the Minotaur made a ran at Theseus, 
grazed his left side with his horn, and flung him 
down ; and thinking that he had stabbed him to 
the heart, he cut a great caper in the air, opened 
his bull mouth from ear to ear, and prepared to 
snap his head off. But Theseus by this time 
had leaped up, and caught the monster off his 
guard. Fetching a sword stroke at him with 
all his force, he hit him fair upon the neck, and 
made his bull head skip six yards from his hu- 
man body, which fell down flat upon the ground. 
So now the battle was ended. Immediately 
the moon shone out as brightly as if all the 
troubles of the world, and all the wickedness and 
the ugliness that infest human life, were past 
and gone forever. And Theseus, as he leaned 
on his sword, taking breath, felt another twitch 
of the silken cord ; for all through the terrible 
encounter, he had held it fast in his left hand. 
Eager to let Ariadne know of his success, 
He followed the guidance of the thread, and 



THE MINOTAUR. 65 

soon found himself at the entrance of the 
labyrinth. 

" Thou hast slain the monster," cried Ariadne, 
clasping her hands. 

" Thanks to thee, dear Ariadne," answered 
Theseus, " I return victorious." 

" Then," said Ariadne, " we must quickly 
summon thy friends, and get them and thyself 
on board the vessel before dawn. If morning 
finds thee here, my father will avenge the 
Minotaur." 

To make my story short, the poor captives 
were awakened, and, hardly knowing whether 
it was not a joyful dream, were told of what 
Theseus had done, and that they must set sail 
for Athens before daybreak. Hastening down 
to the vessel, they all clambered on board, ex- 
cept Prince Theseus, who lingered behind them, 
on the strand, holding Ariadne's hand clasped 
in his own. 

" Dear maiden," said he, " thou wilt surely 
go with us. Thou art too gentle and swee\ 
a child for such an iron-hearted father as King 
Minos. He cares no more for thee than a 
granite rock cares for the little flower that 
5 



66 THE MINOTAUR. 

grows in one of its crevices. But my father, 
King iEgeus, and my dear mother, ^Ethra, 
and all the fathers and mothers in Athens, 
and all the sons and daughters too, will love 
and honor thee as their benefactress. Come 
with us, then ; for King Minos will be very 
angry when he knows what thou hast done." 

Now, some low-minded people, who pretend 
to tell the story of Theseus and Ariadne, have 
the face to say that this royal and honorable 
maiden did really flee away, under cover of 
the night, with the young stranger whose life 
she had preserved. They say, too, that Prince 
Theseus (who would have died sooner than 
wrong the meanest creature in the world) un- 
gratefully deserted Ariadne, on a solitary island^ 
where the vessel touched on its voyage to 
Athens. But, had the noble Theseus heard 
Ahese falsehoods, he would have served their 
slanderous authors as he served the Minotaur! 
Here is what Ariadne answered, when the brave 
prince of Athens besought, her to accompany 
him : — 

" No, Theseus," the maiden said, pressing his 
nand, and then drawing back a step or two. 



THE MINOTAUR. 67 

" I cannot go with you. My father is old, and 
has nobody but myself to love him. Hard as 
you think his heart is, it would break to lose 
me. At first, King Minos will be angry ; but 
he will soon forgive his only child; and, by 
and by, he will rejoice, I know, that no more 
youths and maidens must come from Athens 
to be devoured by the Minotaur. I have saved 
you, Theseus, as much for my father's sake as 
for your own. Farewell! Heaven bless you!" 

All this was so true, and so maiden-like, and 
was spoken with so sweet a dignity, that The- 
seus would have blushed to urge her any longer. 
Nothing remained for him, therefore, but to bid 
Ariadne an affectionate farewell, and to go on 
board the vessel, and set sail. 

In a few moments the white foam was boil- 
ing up before their prow, as Prince Theseus 
and his companions sailed out of the harbor, 
with a whistling breeze behind them. Talus, 
the brazen giant, on his never-ceasing sentinel's 
march, happened to be approaching that part 
of the coast ; and they saw him, by the glimmer- 
ing of the moonbeams on his polished surface, 
while he was yet a great way off. As the 



68 THE MINOTAUR. 

figure moved like clockwork, however, and could 
neither hasten his enormous strides nor retard 
them, he arrived at the port when they were 
,ust beyond the reach of his club. Neverthe- 
less, straddling from headland to headland, as 
his custom was, Talus attempted to strike a 
blow at the vessel, and, overreaching himself, 
tumbled at full length into the sea, which 
splashed high over his gigantic shape, as when 
an iceberg turns a somerset. There he lies yet ; 
and whoever desires to enrich himself by means 
of brass had better go thither with a diving bell, 
and fish up Talus. 

On the homeward voyage, the fourteen youths 
and damsels were in excellent spirits, as you 
will easily suppose. They spent most of their 
time in dancing, unless when the sidelong 
breeze made the deck slope too much. In due 
season, they came within sight of the coast of 
Attica, which was their native country. But 
here, I am grieved to tell you, happened a 
sad misfortune. 

You will remember (what Theseus unfortu- 
aately forgot) that his father, King iEgeus- 
had enjoined it upon him to hoist sunshin 



THE MINOTAUR. 69 

jails, instead of black ones, in case he should 
overcome ths Minotaur, and return victorious. 
In the joy of their success, however, and amidst 
the sports, dancing, and other merriment, with 
which these young folks wore away the time, 
they never once thought whether their saiis 
were black, white, or rainbow colored, and, in- 
deed, left it entirely to the mariners whether they 
had any sails at all. Thus the vessel returned, 
like a raven, with the same sable wings that 
had wafted her away. But poor King iEgeus, 
day after day, infirm as he was, had clambered 
to the summit of a cliff that overhung the sea, 
and there sat watching for Prince Theseus, 
homeward bound ; and no sooner did he be- 
hold the fatal blackness of the sails, than he 
concluded that his dear son, whom he loved 
so much, and felt so proud of, had been eaten 
by the Minotaur. He could not bear the 
thought of living any longer ; so, first flinging 
his crown and sceptre into the sea, (useless 
bawbles that they were to him now !) King 
iEgeus merely stooped forward, and fell head- 
long over the cliff, and was drowned, poor soul, 
in the waves that foamed at its base ! 



70 THE MINOTAUR. 

This was melancholy news for Prince Theseus, 
who, when he stepped ashore, found himself 
king of all the country, whether he would or 
no ; and such a turn of fortune was enough 
to make any young man feel very much out 
of spirits. However, he sent for his dear mother 
to Athens, and, by taking her advice in mat- 
ters of state, became a very excellent monarch, 
and was greatly beloved by his people. 



THE PYGMIES. 71 



THE PYGMIES 



A GiiEAi while ago, when the world was full 
of wonders, there lived an earth-born Giant, 
named Antseus, and a million or more of curious 
little earth-born people, who were called Pyg- 
mies. This Giant and these Pygmies being chil- 
dren of the same mother, (that is to say, our 
good old Grandmother Earth,) were all brethren, 
and dwelt together in a very friendly and affec- 
tionate manner, far, far off, in the middle of hot 
Africa. The Pygmies were so small, and there 
were so many sandy deserts and such high 
mountains between them and the rest of man- 
kind, that nobody could get a peep at them 
oftener than once in a hundred years. As for 
the Giant, being of a very lofty stature, it was 
easy enough to see him, but safest to keep out 
of his sight. 



72 THE PYGMIES. 

Among the Pygmies, I suppose, if one of them 
grew to the height of six 01 eight inches, he was 
reckoned a prodigiously tall man. Iifmust have 
been very pretty to behold their little cities, with 
streets two or three feet wide, paved with the 
smallest pebbles, and . bordered by habitations 
about as big as a squirrel's cage. The king's 
palace attained to the stupendous magnitude of 
Periwinkle's baby house, and stood in Hie centre 
of a spacious square, which could hardly have 
been covered by our hearth rug. Their prin- 
cipal temple, or cathedral, was as lofty as yon- 
der bureau, and was looked upon as a wonder- 
fully sublime and magnificent edifice. All these 
structures were built neither of stone nor wood. 
They were neatly plastered together by the Pyg- 
my workmen, pretty much like birds' nests, out 
of straw, feathers, egg shells, and other small 
bits of stuff, with stiff clay instead of mortar ; 
and when the hot sun had dried them, they were 
just as snug and comfortable as a Pygmy could 
desire. 

The country round about was conveniently 
laid out hi fields, the largest of which was nearly 
of the same extent as one of Sweet Fern's flower 



THE PYGMIES. 73 

Deds. Here the Pygmies used to plant wheat 
and other kinds of grain, which, when it grew 
up and ripened, overshadowed these tiny people, 
as the pines, and the oaks, and the walnut and 
chestnut trees overshadow you and me, when 
we walk in our own tracts of woodland. At 
harvest time, they were forced to go with their 
little axes and cut down the grain, exactly as a 
woodcutter makes a clearing in the forest; and 
when a stalk of wheat, with its overburdened 
top, chanced to come crashing down upon an 
unfortunate Pygmy, it was apt to be a very sad 
affair. If it did not smash him all to pieces, at 
least, I am sure, it must have made the poor 
little fellow's head ache. And O, my stars ! if 
the fathers and mothers were so small, what 
must the children and babies have been? A 
whole family of them might have been put to 
bed in a shoe, or have crept into an old glove, 
and played at hide and seek in its thumb and 
fingers. You might have hidden a year-old baby 
under a thimble. 

Now these funny Pygmies, as I told you be- 
fore, had a Giant for their neighbor and brother, 
who was bigger, if possible, than they were little. 



74 THE PYGMIES. 

He was so very tall that he carried a pine treo, 
7^hich was eight feet through the but, for a walk 
ing stick. It took a far-sighted Pygmy, I can 
assure you, to discern his summit without the 
help of a telescope ; and sometimes, in misty 
weather, they could not see his upper half, but 
only his long legs, which seemed to be striding 
about by themselves. But at noonday, in a 
clear atmosphere, when the sun shone brightly 
over him, the Giant Antaeus presented a very 
grand spectacle. There he used to stand, a per- 
fect mountain of a man, with his great counte- 
nance smiling down upon his little brothers, and 
his one vast eye (which was as big as a cart 
wheel, and placed right in the centre of his fore- 
head) giving a friendly wink to the whole nation 
at once. 

The Pygmies loved to talk with Antaeus ; and 
fifty times a day, one or another of them would 
turn up his head, and shout through the hollow 
of his fists, " Halloo, brother Antaeus ! How 
are you, my good fellow ? " And when the 
small, distant squeak of their voices reached his 
ear, the Giant would make answer, " Prettv 
well, brother Pygmy, I thank you," in a thun- 



THE PYGMIES. 75 

deious roar that would have shaken down the 
walls of their strongest temple, only that it came 
from so far aloft. 

It was a happy circumstance that Antaeus 
was the Pygmy people's friend ; for there was 
more strength in his little finger than in ten mil- 
lion of such bodies as this. If he had been as 
ill natured to them as he was to every body else, 
he might have beaten down their biggest city at 
one kick, and hardly have known that he did it 
With the tornado of his breath, he could have 
stripped the roofs from a hundred dwellings, 
and sent thousands of the inhabitants whirling 
through the air. He might have set his im 
mense foot upon a multitude ; and when he took 
it up again, there would have been a pitiful 
sight, to be sure. But, being the son of Mothei 
Earth, as they likewise were, the Giant gave 
them his brotherly kindness, and loved them 
with as big a love as it was possible to feel foi 
creatures so very small. And, on their parts,, 
the Pygmies loved Antaeus with as much affec- 
tion as their tiny hearts could hold. He waa 
always ready to do them any good offices that 
lay in his power; as for example, when they 



76 THE PYGMIES. 

wanted a breeze to turn their wind mills, the 
Giant would set all the sails a-going with the 
mere natural respiration of his lungs. When 
the sun was too hot, he often sat himself down, 
and let his shadow fall over the kingdom, from 
one frontier to the other ; and as for matters in 
general, he was wise enough to let them alone, 
and leave the Pygmies to manage their own 
affairs — which, after all, is about the best thing 
that great people can do foi little ones. 

In short, as I said before, Antaeus loved the 
Pygmies, and the Pygmies loved Antaeus. The 
Giant's life being as long as his body was large, 
while the lifetime of a Pygmy was but a span, 
this friendly intercourse had been going on for 
innumerable generations and ages. It was 
written about in the Pygmy histories, and 
talked about in their ancient traditions. The 
most venerable and white-bearded Pygmy had 
never heard of a time, even in his greatest of 
grandfather's days, when the Giant was not 
their enormous friend. Once, to be sure, (as 
was recorded on an obelisk, three feet high, 
erected on the place of the catastrophe,) Antaeus 
Bat down upon about five thousand Pygmies, 



THE PYGMIES. 77 

who were assembled at a military review. But 
this was one of those unlucky accidents for 
which nobody is to blame; so that the small 
folks never took it to heart, and only requested 
the Giant to be careful forever afterwards 
to examine the acre of ground where he in- 
tended to squat himself. 

It is a very pleasant picture to imagine 
Antaeus standing among the Pygmies, like the 
spire of the tallest cathedral that ever was built, 
while they ran about like pismires at his feet , 
and to think that, in spite of their difference 
in size, there were affection and sympathy be- 
tween them and him ! Indeed, it has always 
seemed to me that the Giant needed the little 
people more than the Pygmies needed the 
Giant. For, unless they had been his neigh- 
bors and well wishers, and, as we may say, his 
playfellows, Antaeus would not have had a 
single friend in the world. No other being like 
himself had ever been created. No creature of 
his own size had ever talked with him, in thun- 
der-like accents, face to face. When he stood 
with his head among the clouds, he was quite 
alone, and had been so for hundreds of yearSj 



THE PYGMIES. 



and would be so forever. Even if he had me* 
another Giant, Antseus would have fancied the 
world not big enough for two such vast person- 
ages, and, instead of being friends with him. 
would have fought him till one of the two wa? 
killed. But with the Pygmies he was the mosl 
sportive, and humorous, and merry-hearted, and 
sweet-tempered old Giant that ever washed his 
face in a wet cloud. 

His little friends, like all other small people, 
had a great opinion of their own importance, 
and used to assume quite a patronizing air 
towards the Giant. 

" Poor creature ! " they said one to another. 
" He has a very dull time of it, all by himself; 
and we ought not to grudge wasting a little of 
our precious time to amuse him. He is not half 
so bright as we are, to be sure; and, for that 
reason, he needs us to look after his comfort 
and happiness. Let us be kind to the old fel- 
low. Why, if Mother Earth had not been very 
kind to ourselves, we might all have been 
Giants too'- 

On all their holidays, the Pygmies had ex* 
cellent sport with Antaeus He often stretched 



THE PYGMIES. 



79 



himself out at full length on the ground, where 
he looked like the long ridge of a hill ; and it 
was a good hour's walk, no doubt, for a short- 
legged Pygmy to journey from head to foot of 
the Giant. He would lay down his great hand 
flat on the grass, and challenge the tallest of 
them to clamber upon it, and straddle from 
finger to finger. So fearless were they, that 
they made nothing of creeping in among the 
folds of his garments. When his head lay 
sidewise on the earth, they would march boldly 
up, and peep into the great cavern of his mouth, 
and take it all as a joke (as indeed it was 
meant) when Antaeus gave a sudden snap with 
his jaws, as if he were going to swallow fifty of 
them at once. You would have laughed to see 
the children dodging in and out among his hair, 
or swinging from his beard. It is impossible 
to tell half of the funny tricks that they played 
with their huge comrade ; but I do not know 
that any thing was more curious than when 
a party of boys were seen running races on his 
forehead, to try which of them could get first 
round the circle of his one great eye. It was 
another favorite feat with them to march along 



80 THE PYGMIES. 

the bridge of his nose, and jump down upon bis 
upper lip. 

If the truth must be told, they were sometimes 
as troublesome to the Giant as a swarm of ants 
or mosquitoes, especially as they had a fondness 
for mischief, and liked to prick his skin with 
their little swords and lances, to see how thick 
and tough it was. But Antaeus took it all kind- 
ly enough ; although, once in a while, when he 
happened to be sleepy, he would grumble out a 
peevish word or two, like the muttering of a 
tempest, and ask them to have done with their 
nonsense. A great deal oftener, however, he 
watched their merriment and gambols until his 
huge, heavy, clumsy wits were completely 
stirred up by them ; and then would he roar 
out such a tremendous volume of immeasura- 
ble laughter, that the whole nation of Pygmies 
had to put their hands to their ears, else it 
would certainly have deafened them. 

" Ho! ho! ho!" quoth the Giant, shaking his 
mountainous sides. " What a funny thing it is 
to be little ! If I were not Antaeus, I should like 
co be a Pygmy, just for the joke's sake." 

The Pygmies had but one thing to trouble 



THE PYGMIES. 8J 

them in the world. They were constant!) at 
war with the cranes, and had always been so> 
ever since the long-lived Giant could remember. 
From time to time, « ery terrible battles had been 
fought, in which sometimes the little men won 
the victory, and sometimes the cranes. Accord- 
ing to some historians, the Pygmies used to go 
to the battle, mounted on the backs of goats and 
rams; but such animals as these must have been 
far too big for Pygmies to ride upon ; so that, I 
rather suppose, they rode on squirrelback, or rab- 
bitback, or ratback, or perhaps got upon hedge- 
hogs, whose, prickly quills would be very terrible 
to the enemy. However this might be, and 
whatever creatures the Pygmies rode upon, I do 
not doubt that they made a formidable appear- 
ance, armed with sword and spear, and bow and 
arrow, blowing their tiny trumpet, and shouting 
their little war cry. They never failed to exhort 
one another to fight bravely, and recollect that 
the world had its eyes upon them ; although, in 
simple truth, the only spectator was the Giant 
Antaeus, with his one, great, stupid eye, in the 
middle of his forehead. 

When the two armies joined battle, the cranes 
6 



S2 THE PYGMIES. 

would rush forward, napping their wings and 
stretching out their necks, and would perhaps 
snatch up some of the Pygmies crosswise in 
their beaks. Whenever this happened, it was 
truly an awful spectacle to see those little men 
of might kicking and sprawling in the air, 
and at last disappearing down the crane's long, 
crooked throat, swallowed up alive. A hero, 
you know, must hold himself in readiness for any 
kind of fate ; and doubtless the glory of the 
thing was a consolation to him, even in the 
crane's gizzard. If Antaeus observed that the 
battle was going hard against his little allies, 
he generally stopped laughing, and ran with 
mile J ong strides to their assistance, nourishing 
his dub aloft and shouting at the cranes, who 
quacked and croaked, and retreated as fast as 
they could. Then the Pygmy army would 
march homeward in triumph, attributing the vic- 
tory entirely to their own valor, and to the war- 
like skill and strategy of whomsoever happened 
to be captain general ; and for a tedious while 
afterwards, nothing would be heard of but grand 
processions, and public banquets, and brilliant 
illuminations, and shows of waxwork, with like- 



THE PYGMIES. 



83 



nerfses of the distinguished officers, as small as 
life. 

In the above-described warfare, if a Pygmy 
chanced to pluck out a crane's tail feather, it 
proved a very great feather in his cap. Once or 
twice, if you will believe me, a little man was 
made chief ruler of the nation for no other 
merit in the world than bringing home such a 
feather. 

But I have now said enough to let you see 
what a gallant little people these were, and how 
happily they and their forefathers, for nobody 
knows how many generations, had lived with the 
immeasurable Giant Antaeus. In the remaining 
part of the story, I shall tell you of a far more 
astonishing battle than any that was fought be- 
tween the Pygmies and the cranes. 

One day the mighty Antseus was lolling at 
full length among his little friends. His pine 
tree walking stick lay on the ground, close by his 
side. His head was in one part of the kingdom, 
and his feet extended across the boundaries of an- 
other part; and he was taking whatever comfort 
he could get, while the Pygmies scrambled over 
hin v and peeped into his cavernous mouth, and 



84 THE PYGMIES. 

played among his hair. Sometimes, for a min- 
ute or two, the Giant dropped asleep, and snorea 
like the rush of a whirlwind. During one of these 
little bits of slumber, a Pygmy chanced to climb 
upon his shoulder, and took a view around the 
horizon, as from the summit of a hill ; and he 
beheld something, a long way off, which made 
him rub the bright specks of his eyes, and look 
sharper than before. At first he mistook it for 
a mountain, and wondered how it had grown up 
so suddenly nut of the earth. But soon he 
saw the mountain move. As it came nearer and 
nearer, what should it turn out to be but a hu- 
man shape, not so big as Antaeus, it is true, 
although a very enormous figure, in comparison 
with Pygmies, and a vast deal bigger than the 
men whom we see nowadays. 

When the Pygmy was quite satisfied that his 
eyes had not deceived him, he scampered, as fast 
as his legs would carry -him, to the Giant's ear, 
and stooping over its cavity, shouted lustilv 
into it, — 

" Halloo, brother Antaeus ! Get up this min- 
ute, and take your pine tree walking stick in 
your hand. Here comes another Giant to have 
a tussle with you." 



THE PYGMIES. 85 

"Poh, poh!" grumbled Antaeus, only half 
awake. " None of your nonsense, my little fel- 
low ! Don't you see I'm sleepy. There is not 
a Giant on earth foi whom I would take the 
trouble to get up." 

But the Pygmy looked again, and now per- 
ceived that the stranger was coming directly 
towards the prostrate form of Antaeus. With 
every step, he looked less like a blue mountain, 
and more like an immensely large man. He 
was soon so nigh, that there could be no possi- 
ble mistake about the matter. There he was, 
with the sun flaming on his golden helmet, and 
flashing from his polished breastplate; he had a 
sword by his side, and a lion's skin over his 
back, and on his right shoulder he carried a club, 
which looked bulkier and heavier than the pine- 
tree walking stick of Antaeus. 

By this time, the whole nation of Pygmies 
had seen the new wonder, and a million of them 
set up a shout, all together; so that it really 
made quite an audible squeak. 

" Get up, Antaeus ! Bestir yourself, you lazv 
old Giant! Here comes another Giant, as 
strong as you are, to fight with you." 



86 THE PYGMIES. 

<v Nonsense, nonsense!" growled the sleepy 
Giant. " I'll have my nap out, come who 
may." 

Still the stranger drew nearer; and now the 
Pygmies could plainly discern that, if his stature 
were less lofty than the Giant's, yet his shoul- 
ders were even broader. And, in truth, what a 
pair of shoulders they must have been ! As 1 
told you, a long while ago, they once upheld the 
sky. The Pygmies, being ten times as viva- 
cious as their great numskull of a brother, could 
n6t abide the Giant's slow movements, and 
were determined to have him on his feet. So 
they kept shouting to him, and even went so far 
as to prick him with their swords. 

" Get up, get up, get up ! " they cried. " Up 
with you, lazy bones! The strange Giant's club 
is bigger than your own, his shoulders are thfi 
broadest, and we think him the stronger of 
the two." 

Antaeus could not endure to have it said that 
any mortal was half so mighty as himself. This 
latter remark of the Pygmies pricked him deeper 
than their swords, and, sitting up, in rather a 
sulky bumor, he gave a gape of several vards 



THE PYGMIES. 



87 



wide, rubbed his eyes, and finally turned his 
stupid head in the direction whither his little 
friends were eagerly pointing. 

No sooner did he set eyes on the stranger, 
than, leaping on his feet, and seizing his walking 
stick, he strode a mile or two to meet him ; all 
the while brandishing the sturdy pine tree, so 
that it whistled through the air. 

" Who are you?" thundered the Giant. "And 
what do you want in my dominions ? " 

There was one strange thing about Antaeus, 
of which I have not yet told you, lest, hearing of 
so many wonders all in a lump, you might not 
believe much more than half of them. You are 
to know, then, that whenever this redoubtable 
Giant touched the ground, either with his hand, 
his foot, or any other part of his body, he grew 
stronger than ever he had been before. The 
Earth, you remember, was his mother, and was 
very fond of him, as being almost the biggest of 
her children; and so she took this method of 
keeping him always in full vigor. Some per- 
sons affirm that he grew ten times stronger at 
every touch ; others say that it was only twice 
as strong. But only think of it! Whenevei 



S8 THE PYGMIES. 

Antaeus took a walk, supposing it were but ten 
miles, and that he stepped a hundred yards at a 
stride, you may try to cipher out how much 
mightier he was, on sitting down again, than 
when he first started. And whenever he flung 
himself on the earth to take a little repose, even 
if he got up the very next instant, he would be 
as strong as exactly ten just such giants as his 
former self. It was well for the world that An- 
taeus happened to be of a sluggish disposition, 
and liked ease better than exercise ; for, if he 
had frisked about like the Pygmies, and touched 
the earth as often as they did, he would long 
ago have been strong enough to pull down the 
sky about people's ears. But these great lub- 
berly fellows resemble mountains, not only in 
bulk, but in their disinclination to move. 

Any other mortal man, except the very one 
whom Antaeus had now encountered, would have 
been half frightened to death by the Giant's 
ferocious aspect and terrible voice. But the 
stranger did not seem at all disturbed. He care- 
lessly lifted his club, and balanced it in his hand 
measuring Antaeus with his eye, from head to 
foot, not as if wonder-smitten at his stature, bu1 



THE PYGMIES. »y 

as if he had seen a great many Giants before, 
and this was by no means the biggest of them. 
In fact, if the Giant had been no bigger than 
the Pygmies, (who stood pricking up their ears, 
and looking and listening to what was going 
forward,) the stranger could not have been less 
afraid of him. 

" Who are you, I say?" roared Antaeus again. 
14 What's your name ? Why do you come hith- 
er? Speak, you vagabond, or I'll try the thick- 
ness of your skull with my walking stick." 

" You are a very discourteous Giant," an- 
swered the stranger, quietly, " and I shall proba- 
bly have to teach you a little civility, before we 
part. As for my name, it is Hercules. I have 
come hither because this is my most convenient 
road to the garden of the Hesperides, whither 1 
am going to get three of the golden apples for 
King Eurystheus." 

" Caitiff, you shall go no farther ! " bellowed 
Antaeus, putting on a grimmer look than be- 
fore ; for he had heard of the mighty Hercules, 
and hated him because he was said to be so 
strong. " Neither shall you go back whence 
you came ! " 



90 THE PYGMIES. 

" How will you prevent me," asked Hercules, 
u from going whither I please ? " 

" By hitting you a rap with this pine tree 
here," shouted Antaeus, scowling so that he 
made himself the ugliest monster in Africa, 
u I am fifty times stronger than you ; and, now 
that I stamp my foot upon the ground, I am 
five hundred times stronger ! I am ashamed to 
kill such a puny little dwarf as you seem to be. 
I will make a slave of you, and you shall like* 
wise be the slave of my brethren, here, the 
Pygmies. So throw down your club and your 
other weapons ; and as for that lion's skin, T 
intend to have a pair of gloves made of it." 

" Come and take it off my shoulders, then," 
answered Hercules, lifting his club. 

Then the Giant, grinning with rage, strode 
tower-like towards the stranger, (ten times 
strengthened at every step,) and fetched a mon- 
strous blow at him with his pine tree, which 
Hercules caught upon his club ; and being more 
skilful than Antaeus, he paid him back such a 
rap upon the sconce, that down tumbled the 
great Limbering man-mountain, flat upon the 
ground. The poor little Pygmies (who really 



THE PYGMIES. 91 

aever dreamed that any body in the world 
was half so strong as their brother Antaeus) 
were a good deal dismayed at this. But no 
sooner was the Giant down, than up he bounced 
again, with tenfold might, and such a furious 
visage as was horrible to behold. He aimed 
another blow at Hercules, but struck awry, 
being blinded with wrath, and only hit his 
poor innocent Mother Earth, who groaned and 
trembled at the stroke. His pine tree went so 
deep into the ground, and stuck there so fast, 
that, before Antaeus could get it out, Hercules 
brought down his club across his shoulders with 
a mighty thwack, which made the Giant roar 
as if all sorts of intolerable noises had come 
screeching and rumbling out of his immeas- 
urable lungs in that one cry. Away it went, 
over mountains and valleys, and, for aught 1 
know, was heard on the other side of the 
African deserts. 

As for the Pygmies, their capital city was 
laid in ruins by the concussion and vibration of 
the air ; and, though there was uproar enough 
wi^iout their help, they all set up a shriek out 
of three millions of little throats, fancying, 



92 THE PYGMIES. 

no doubt, that they swelled the Giant's bellow 
by at least ten times as much. Meanwhile, 
Antaeus had scrambled upon his feet again, 
and pulled his pine tree out of the earth ; and, 
all a-flame with fury, and more outrageously 
strong than ever, he ran at Hercules, and brought 
down another blow. 

" This time, rascal," shouted he, " you shall 
not escape me." 

But once more Hercules warded off the stroke 
with his club, and the Giant's pine tree was 
shattered into a thousand splinters, most of 
which flew among the Pygmies, and did them 
more mischief than I like to think about. 
Before Antaeus could get out of the way, 
Hercules let drive again, and gave him another 
knock-down blow, which sent him heels over 
head, but served only to increase his already 
enormous and insufferable strength. As for his 
rage, there is no telling what a fiery furnace it 
had now got to be. His one eye was nothing 
but a circle of red flame. Having now no 
weapons but his fists, he doubled them up, 
(each bigger than a hogshead,) smote one 
against the ether, and danced up and down 



THE PYGMIES. 9& 

with absolute frenzy, flourishing his immense 
arms about, as if he meant not merely to kill 
Hercules, but to smash the whole world to 
pieces. 

" Come on ! " roared this thundering Giant. 
" Let me hit you but one box on the ear, and 
you'll never have the headache again." 

Now Hercules (though strong enough, as you 
already know, to hold the sky up) began to be 
sensible that he should never win the victory, 
if he kept on knocking Antaeus down ; for, by 
and by, if he hit him such hard blows, the Giant 
would inevitably, by the help of his Mother 
Earth, become stronger than the mighty Her- 
cules himself. So, throwing down his club, 
with which he had fought so many dreadful 
battles, the hero stood ready to receive his 
antagonist with naked arms. 

" Step forward," cried he. " Since I've bro- 
ken your pine tree, we'll try which is the bet- 
ter man at a wrestling match." 

" Aha ! then I'll soon satisfy you," shouted 
the Giant ; for, if there was one thing on which 
he prided himself more than another, it* was 
his skill in wrestli ng. " Villain, I'll fling 



THE PYGMIES. 

you where you can never pick yourself up 
again." 

On came Antaeus, hopping and capering with 
the scorching heat of his rage, and getting new 
vigor wherewith to wreak his passion, every 
time he hopped. But Hercules, you must un- 
derstand, was wiser than this numskull of a 
Giant, and had thought of a way to fight him, 
— huge, earth-born monster that he was ; — and 
to conquer him too, in spite of all that his 
Mother Earth could do for him. Watching his 
opportunity, as the mad Giant made a rush 
at him, Hercules caught him round the middle 
with both hands, lifted him high into the air, 
and held him aloft overhead. 

Just imagine it, my dear little friends ! What 
a spectacle it must have been, to see this mon- 
strous fellow sprawling in the air, face down- 
ward, kicking out his long legs and wriggling 
his whole vast body, like a baby when its fathei 
holds it at arm's length towards the ceiling. 

But the most wonderful thing was, that, as 
60011 as Antaeus was fairly off the earth, he 
began to lose the vigor which he had gained 
by touching it. Hercules very soon perceived 



THE PYGMIES. 



95 



that his troublesome enemy was growing weak- 
er, both because he struggled and kicked with 
less violence, and because the thunder of his big 
voice subsided into a grumble. The truth was, 
that, unless the Giant touched Mother Earth as 
often as once in five minutes, not only his over- 
grown strength, but the very breath of his life, 
would depart from him. Hercules had guessed 
this secret; and it may be well for us all to 
remember it, in case we should ever have to 
fight a battle with a fellow like Antaeus. For" 
these earth-born creatures are only difficult 
to conquer on their own ground, but may 
easily be managed if we can contrive to lift 
them into a loftier and purer region. So 
it proved with the poor Giant, whom I am 
really a little sorry for, notwithstanding his 
uncivil way of treating strangers who came 
to visit him. 

When his strength and breath were quite 
gone, Hercules gave his huge body a toss, and 
flung it about a mile off, where it fell heavily, 
and lay with no more motion than a sand hill. 
It was too late for the Giant's Mother Earth to 
help him now ; and I should not wonder if hia 



96 THE PYGMIES. 

ponderous bones were lying on the same spot 
to this very day, and were mistaken for those ol 
an uncommonly large elephant. 

But, alas me ! What a wailing did the poor 
little Pygmies set up when they saw their enor- 
mous brother treated in this terrible manner! 
If Hercules heard their shrieks, however, he took 
no notice, and perhaps fancied them only the 
shrill, plaintive twittering of small birds that 
had been frightened from their nests by the 
uproar of the battle between himself and An- 
taeus. Indeed, his thoughts had been so much 
taken up with the Giant, that he had never 
once looked at the Pygmies, nor even knew that 
there was such a funny little nation in the world 
And now, as he had travelled a good way, and 
was also rather weary with his exertions in the 
fight, he spread out his lion's skin on the 
ground, and reclining himself upon it, fell fast 
asleep. 

As soon as the Pygmies saw Hercules pre- 
paring for a nap, they nodded their little heads 
at one another, and winked with their little eyes 
And when his deep, regular breathing gave 
them notice that he was asleep, they assembled 



THE PYGMIES. 97 

together in an immense crowd, spreading over 
a space of about twenty-seven feet square. One 
of their most eloquent orators (and a valiant 
warrior enough, besides, though hardly so good 
at any other weapon as he was with his tongue) 
climbed upon a toadstool, and, from that ele- 
vated position, addressed the multitude. His 
sentiments were pretty much as follows ; or, at 
all events, something like this was probably the 
upshot of his speech : — 

" Tall Pygmies and mighty little men ! You 
and all of us have seen what a public calamity 
has been brought to pass, and what an insult has 
here been offered to the majesty of our nation. 
Yonder lies Antaeus, our great friend and brother, 
slain, within our territory, by a miscreant who 
took him at disadvantage, and fought him (if 
fighting it can be called) in a way that neither 
man, nor Giant, nor Pygmy ever dreamed of 
fighting, until this hour. And, adding a grievous 
contumely to the wrong already done us, the 
miscreant has now fallen asleep as quietly as 
if nothing were to be dreaded from our wrath ! 
It behooves you, fellow-countrymen, to consider 
In what aspect we shall stand befc re the world, 
7 



.98 THE PYGMIES. 

and what will be the verdict of impartial histoty, 
should we suffer these accumulated outrages to 
go unavenged. 

" Antaeus was our brother, born of that same 
beloved parent to whom we owe the thews 
and sinews, as well as the courageous heaits, 
which made him proud of our relationship. He 
was our faithful ally, and fell fighting as much 
for our national rights and immunities as for his 
own personal ones. We and our forefather 
have dwelt in friendship with him, and held 
affectionate intercourse, as man to man, througn 
immemorial generations. You remember how 
often our entire people have reposed in his great 
shadow, and how our little ones have played at 
hide and seek in the tangles of his hair, and how 
his mighty footsteps have familiarly gone 10 and 
fro among us, and never trodden upon any of 
our toes. And there lies this dear brother — 
this sweet and amiable friend — this brave and 
faithful ally — this virtuous Giant — this blame- 
less and excellent Antaeus — dead ! Dead . Si- 
lent! Powerless! A mere mountain of clay! 
Forgive my tears ! Nay, I behold your own : 
Were we to drown the world with them, could 
the world blame us ? 



THE PYGMIES. 



99 



" But to resume : Shall we, my countrymen, 
suffer this wicked stranger to depart unharmed, 
and triumph in his treacherous victory, among 
distant communities of the earth ? Shall we not 
rather compel him to leave his bones here on otfl 
soil, by the side of our slain brother's bones ? so 
that, while one skeleton shall remain as the ever- 
lasting monument of our sorrow, the other shall 
endure as long, exhibiting to the whole human 
race a terrible example of Pygmy vengeance! 
Such is the question. I put it to you in full con- 
fidence of a response that shall be worthy of our 
national character, and calculated to increase, 
rather than diminish, the glory which our ances- 
tors have transmitted to us, and which we our- 
selves have proudly vindicated in our warfare 
with the cranes." 

The orator was here interrupted by a burst 
of irrepressible enthusiasm ; every individual 
Pygmy crying out that the national honor must 
be preserved at all hazards. He bowed, and 
making a gesture for silence, wound up his ha- 
rangue in the following admirable manner: — 

" It only remains for us, then, to decide wheth- 
er we shall c^rry on the war in our national 



100 THE PYGMIES. 

capacity, — one united people against a common 
enemy ; — or whether some champion, famous in 
former fights, shall be selected to defy the slayer 
of our brother Antaeus to single combat. In the 
latter case, though not unconscious that there 
may be taller men among you, I hereby offer 
myself for that enviable duty. And, believe me, 
dear countrymen, whether I live or die, the 
honor of this great country, and the fame be- 
queathed us by our heroic progenitors, shall suffer 
no diminution in my hands. Never, while I 
can wield this sword, of which I now fling 
away the scabbard — never, never, never, even 
if the crimson hand that slew the great Antaeus 
shall lay me prostrate, like him, on the soil which 
T give my life to defend." 

So saying, this valiant Pygmy drew out his 
weapon, (which was terrible to behold, being as 
i3ng as the blade of a penknife,) and sent the 
scabbard whirling over the heads of the multi- 
tude. His speech was followed by an uproar 
of applause, as its patriotism and self-devotion 
unquestionably deserved ; and the shouts and 
clapping of hands would have been greatly pro- 
longed; had they not been rendered quite inaudi 



THE PYGMIES. 101 

ble by a de.3p respiration, vulgarly called a snore, 
from the sleeping Hercules. 

It was finally decided that the whole nation 
of Pygmies should set to work to destroy Her- 
cules ; not, be it understood, from any doubt 
that a single champion would be capable of 
putting him to the sword, but because he was a 
public enemy, and all were desirous of sharing 
in the glory of his defeat. There was a debate 
whether the national honor did not demand 
that a herald should be sent with a trumpet, to 
stand over the ear of Hercules, and, after blow- 
ing a blast right into it, to defy him to the com- 
bat by formal proclamation. Rut two or three 
venerable and sagacious Pygmies, well versed in 
state affairs, gave it as their opinion that war 
already existed, and that it was their rightful 
privilege to take the enemy by surprise. More- 
over, if awakened, and allowed to get upon his 
feet, Hercules might happen to do them a mis- 
chief before he could be beaten down again. 
For, as these sage counsellors remarked, the 
stranger's club was really very big, and had rat- 
tled like a thunderbolt against the skull of An- 
taeus. So the Pygmies resolved to set a^sirie all 



10^ THE PYGMIES. 

foolish punctilios, and assail thefr antagonist at 
once. 

Accordingly, all the fighting men of the na- 
tion took their weapons, and went boldly up to 
Hercules, who still lay fast asleep, little dreaming 
of the harm which the Pygmies meant to do him. 
A body of twenty thousand archers marched in 
front, with their little bows all ready, and the 
arrows on the string. The same number were 
ordered to clamber upon Hercules, some with 
spades, to dig his eyes out, and others with 
bundles of hay, and all manner of rubbish, with 
which they intended to plug up his mouth and 
nostrils, so that he might perish for lack of 
breath. These last, however, could by no means 
perform their appointed duty ; inasmuch as the 
enemy's breath rushed out of his nose in an ob- 
streperous hurricane and whirlwind, which blew 
the Pygmies away as fast as they came nigh. 
It was found necessary, therefore, to hit upon 
bome other method of carrying on the war. 

After holding a council, the captains ordered 
their troops to collect sticks, straws, dry weeds, 
and whatever combustible stuff they could find, 
and make a pile t>f it, heaping it high around 



THE P\GMIES. 



103 



the head of Hercules, As a great many thou- 
sand Pygmies were employed in this task, they 
soon brought together several bushels of inflam- 
matory matter, and raised so tall a heap, that, 
mounting on its summit, they were quite upon 
a level with the sleeper's face. The archers, 
meanwhile, were stationed within bow shot, with 
oiders to let fly at Hercules the instant that he 
stirred. Every thing being in readiness, a torch 
was applied to the pile, which immediately burst 
into flames, and soon waxed hot enough to roast 
the enemy, had he but chosen to lie still. A 
Pygmy, you know, though so very small, might 
set the world on fire, just as easily as a Giant 
could ; so that this was certainly the very best 
way of dealing with their foe, provided they 
could have kept him quiet while the conflagra 
tion was going forward. 

But no sooner did Hercules begin to be 
bcorched, than up he started, with his hair in a 
red blaze. 

" What's all this ?" he cried, bewildered with 
sleep, and staring about him as if he expected 
to see another Giant. 

At that moment the twenty thousand archers 



104 THE PYGMIES. 1 

twanged their bowstrings, and the arrows came 
whizzing, like so many winged mosquitoes, right 
into the face of Hercules. But I doubt whether 
more than half a dozen of them punctured thfe 
skin, which was remarkably tough, as you know 
the skin of a hero has good need to be. 

" Villain ! " shouted all the Pygmies at once. 
" You have killed the Giant Antaeus, our great 
brother, and the ally of our nation. We declare 
bloody war against you, and will slay you on the 
spot." 

Surprised at the shrill piping of so many little 
voices, Hercules, after putting out the conflagra- 
tion of his hair, gazed all round about, but 
could see nothing. At last, however, looking 
narrowly on the ground, he espied the innumer- 
able assemblage of Pygmies at his feet. He 
stooped down, and taking up the nearest one be- 
tween his thumb and finger, set him on the palm 
of his left hand, and held him at a proper dis- 
tance for examination. It chanced to be the 
very identical Pygmy who had spoken from 
the top of the toadstool, and had offered him- 
self as a champion to meet Hercules in single 
combat. 



THE PYGMIES. 105 

»* What in the world, my little fellow," ejacu- 
lated Hercules, " may you be ?" 

"lam your enemy," answered the valiant 
Pygmy, in his mightiest squeak. " You have 
slain the enormous Antaeus, our brother by the 
mother's side, and for ages the faithful ally of 
our illustrious nation. We are determined to 
put you to death ; and for my own part, I chal- 
lenge you to instant battle, on equal ground." 

Hercules was so tickled with the Pygmy's big 
words and warlike gestures, that he burst into 
a great explosion of laughter, and almost dropped 
the poor little mite of a creature off' the palm of 
his hand, through the ecstasy and convulsion of 
his merriment. 

" Upon my word," cried he, " I thought I had 
seen wonders before to-day — hydras with nine 
heads, stags with golden horns, six-legged men, 
three-headed dogs, giants with furnaces in their 
stomachs, and nobody knows what besides. But 
here, on the palm of my hand, stands a wonder 
that outdoes them all ! Your body, my little 
friend, is about the size of an ordinary man's fin- 
ger. Pray, how big may your soul be ? " 

u As big as your own ! " said the Pygmy. 



106 



THE PYGMIES. 



Hercules was touched with the little man's 
dauntless courage, and could not help acknowl- 
edging such a brotherhood with him as one hero 
feels for another. 

" My good little people," said he, making a 
lew obeisance to the grand nation, " not for all 
the world would I do an intentional injury to 
such brave fellows as you! Your hearts seem 
to me so exceedingly great, that, upon my honor ; 
1 marvel how your small bodies can contain 
them. I sue for peace, and, as a condition of it, 
will take five strides, and be out of your king- 
dom at the sixth. Good by. I shall pick my 
steps carefully, for fear of treading upon some fif- 
ty of you, without knowing it. Ha, ha, ha! Ho, 
ho, ho ! For once, Hercules acknowledges him- 
self vanquished." 

Some writers say, that Hercules gathered up 
the whole race of Pygmies in his lion's skin, and 
carried them home to Greece, for the children of 
King Eurystheus to play with. But this is a 
mistake. He left them, one and all, within their 
wn territory, where, for aught I can toll, their 
descendants are alive to the present day, build- 
mg their little nouses, cultivating their little 



1HE PYGMIES. 107 

fields, spanking their little children, waging their 
little warfare with the cranes, doing their little 
business, whatever it may be, and reading their 
little histories of ancient times. In those his- 
tories, perhaps, it stands recorded, that, a great 
many centuries ago, the valiant Pygmies avenged 
the death of the Giant Antaeus by scaring away 
the mighty Hercules. 



108 THE DRAGON'S TEETH 



THE DRAGON'S TEETH 



Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, the three sons of 
King Agenor, and their little sister Europa, (who 
was a very beautiful child,) were at play togeth- 
er, near the sea shore, in their father's kingdom 
of Phoenicia. They had rambled to some dis- 
tance from the palace where their parents dwelt, 
and were now in a verdant meadow, on one side 
of which lay the sea, all sparkling and dimpling 
in the sunshine, and murmuring gently against 
the beach. The three boys were very happy, 
gathering flowers, and twining them into gar- 
lands, with which they adorned the little Europa. 
Seated on the grass, the child was almost hid- 
den under an abundance of buds and blossoms, 
whence her rosy face peeped merrily out, and, as 
Cadmus said, was the prettiest of all the flowers. 

Just then, there came a splendid butterfly, 



109 



fluttering along the meadow; and Cadmus, 
Phoenix, and Cilix set off in pursuit of it, crying 
out that it was a flower with wings. Europa ; 
who was a little wearied with playing all day 
long, did not chase the butterfly with her broth- 
ers, but sat still where they had left her, and 
closed her eyes. For a while, she listened to 
the pleasant murmur of the sea, which was like 
a voice saying " Hush ! " and bidding her go to 
sleep. But the pretty child, if she slept at all, 
could not have slept more than a moment, when 
she heard something trample on the grass, not 
far from her, and peeping out from the heap of 
flowers, beheld a snow-white bull. 

And whence could this bull have come ? Eu- 
ropa and her brothers had been a Jong time 
playing in the meadow, and had seen no cattle, 
nor other living thing, either there or on the 
neighboring hills. 

" Brother Cadmus ! " cried Europa, starting up 
out of the midst of the roses and lilies. " Phoe- 
nix ! Cilix ! Where are you all ? Help ! Help ! 
Come and drive away this bull ! " 

But her brothers were too far off to hear; 
especially as the fright took away Europa's 



110 THE DRAGON'S TEETH, 

voice, and hindered her from calling ^very loudly 
So there she stood, with her pretty mouth wide 
open, as pale as the white lilies that were twisted 
among the other flowers in her garlands. 

Nevertheless, it was the suddenness with 
,/hich she had perceived the bull, rather than 
any thing frightful in his appearance, that 
caused Europa so much alarm. On looking at 
him more attentively, she began to see that he 
was a beautiful animal, and even fancied a par- 
ticularly amiable expression in his face. As for 
his breath, — the breath of cattle, you know, is 
always sweet, — it was as fragrant as if he had 
been grazing on no other food than rosebuds, or, 
at least, the most delicate of clover blossoms. 
Never before did a bull have such bright and 
tender eyes, and such smooth horns of ivory, as 
this one. And the bull ran little races, and 
capered sportively around the child ; so that she 
quite forgot how big and strong he was, and, 
from the gentleness and playfulness of his ac- 
tions, soon came to consider him jis innocent a 
creature as a pet lamb. 

Thus, frightened as she at first was, you 
might by and by have seen Europa stroking the 



he dragon's teeth 111 

bull's forehead with her small white hand, and 
taking the garlands off her own head to hang 
them on his neck and ivory horns. Then she 
pulled up some blades of grass, and he ate them 
out of her hand, not as il he were hungry, but 
because he wanted to be friends with the child, 
and took pleasure in eating what she had 
touched. Well, my stars ! was there ever such 
a gentle, sweet, pretty, and amiable creature as 
this bull, and ever such a nice playmate for a 
little girl? 

When the animal saw, (for the bull had so 
much intelligence that it is really wonderful to 
think of,) when he saw that Europa was no 
longer afraid of him, he grew overjoyed, and 
could hardly contain himself for delight. He 
frisked about the meadow, now here, now there, 
making sprightly leaps, with as little effort as a 
bird expends in hopping from twig to twig. In- 
deed, his motion was as light as if he were flying 
through the air, and his hoofs seemed hardly to 
leave their print in the grassy soil over which he 
trod. With his spotless hue, he resembled a 
snow drift, wafted along by the wind. Once he 
galloped so far away that Europa feared lest 



112 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 

she might never see him again; so, setting up 
her childish voice, she called him back. 

" Come back, pretty creature ! " she cried* 
" Here is a nice clover blossom." 

And then it was delightful to witness the 
gratitude of this amiable bull, and how he was 
so full of joy and thankfulness that he capered 
higher than ever. He came running, and bowed 
his head before Europa, as if he knew her to be 
a king's daughter, or else recognized the impor- 
tant truth that a little girl is every body's queen. 
And not only did the bull bend his neck, he 
absolutely knelt down at her feet, and made 
such intelligent nods, and other inviting gestures, 
that Europa understood what he meant just as 
well as if he had put it in so many words. 

" Come, dear child," was what he wanted to 
say, " let me give you a ride on my back." 

At the first thought of such a thing, Europa 
drew back. But then she considered in her 
wise little head that there could be no possi- 
ble harm in taking just one gallop on the back 
of this docile and friendly animal, who would 
certainly set her down the very instant she de- 
Bired it. And how it would surprise her brothers 



THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 113 

to see her riding across the green meadow! 
And what merry times they might have, either 
taking turns for a gallop, or clambering on the 
gentle creature, all four children together, and 
careering round the field with shouts of laughter 
that would be heard as far off as King Agenor's 
palace ! 

" I think I will do it," said the child to herself. 

And, indeed, why not? She cast a glance 
around, and caught a glimpse of Cadmus, Phoenix, 
and Cilix, who were still in pursuit of the but- 
terfly, almost at the other end of the meadow. 
It would be the quickest way of rejoining them, 
to get upon the white bull's back. She came a 
step nearer to him therefore ; and — sociable 
creature that he was — he showed so much joy 
at this mark of her confidence, that the child 
could not find in her heart to hesitate any longer. 
Making one bound, (for this little princess was 
as active as a squirrel,) there sat Europa on the 
beautiful bull, holding an ivory horn in each 
hand, lest she should fall off. 

" Softly, pretty bull, softly ! " she said, rathei 
frightened at what she had done. " Do not gal- 
lop too fast." 

8 



114 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 

Having got the child on his back, the animal 
gave a leap into the air, and came down so like 
a feather that Europa did not know when his 
hoofs touched the ground He then began a 
race to that part of the flowery plain where her 
three brothers were, and where they had just 
caught their splendid butterfly. Europa screamed 
with delight; and Phoenix, Cilix, and Cadmus 
stood gaping at the spectacle of their sister 
mounted on a white bull, not knowing whether 
to be frightened or to wish the same good luck 
for themselves. The gentle and innocent crea- 
ture (for who could possibly doubt that he was 
so ?) pranced round among the children as spor- 
tively as a kitten. Europa all the while looked 
down upon her brothers, nodding and laughing, 
but yet with a sort of stateliness in her rosy little 
face. As the bull wheeled about to take another 
gallop across the meadow, the child waved her 
hand, and said, " Good by," playfully pretend' 
ing that she was now bound on a distant jour- 
ney, and might not see her brothers again for 
nobody could tell how long. 

" Good by," shouted Cadmus, Phoenix, and 
Cilix, all in one breath. 



THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 115 



♦ 



But, together with her enjoyment of the sport, 
there was still a little remnant of fear in the 
child's heart; so that her last look at the three 
boys was a troubled one, and made them feel as 
if their dear sister were really leaving them for- 
ever. And what do you think the snowy bull 
did next ? Why, he set off, as swift as the wind, 
straight down to the sea shore, scampered across 
the sand, took an airy leap, and plunged right 
in among the foaming billows. The white spray 
rose in a shower over him and little Europa, and 
fell spattering down upon the water. 

Then what a scream of terror did the poor child 
send forth ! The three brothers screamed man- 
fully, likewise, and ran to the shore as fast as 
their legs would carry them, with Cadmus at 
their head. But it was too late. When they 
reached the margin of the sand, the treacherous 
animal was already far away in the wide blue 
sea, with only his snowy head and tail emerging, 
and poor little Europa between them, stretching 
out one hand towards her dear brothers, while 
she grasped the bull's ivory horn with the other. 
And there stood Cadmus, Phcenix, and Cilix, 
gazing at this sad spectacle, through their tears, 



116 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 

until they could no longer distinguish the bull's 
snowy head from the white-capped billows that 
seemed to boil up out of the sea's depths around 
him. Nothing more was ever seen of the white 
bull — nothing more of the beautiful child. 

This was a mournful stor}? - , as you may well 
think, for the three boys to carry home to their 
parents. King Agenor, their father, w T as the 
ruler of the whole country ; but he loved his 
little daughter Europa better than his kingdom, 
or than all his other children, or than any thing 
else in the world. Therefore, when Cadmus and 
his two brothers came crying home, and told him 
how that a white bull had carried off their sister, 
and swam with her over the sea, the king was 
quite beside himself with grief and rage. Al- 
though it was now twilight, and fast growing 
dark, he bade them set out instantly in search 
of her. 

" Never shall you see my face again," he cried, 
•* unless you bring me back my little Europa, to 
gladden me with her smiles and her pretty ways. 
Begone, and enter my presence no more, till you 
come leading her by the hand." 

As King Agenor said this, his eyes flashed fire 



117 



(for he was a very passionate king,) and he looked 
so terribly angry that the poor boys did not even 
venture to ask for their suppers, but slunk away 
out of the palace, and only paused on the steps 
a moment to consult whither they should go first 
While they were standing there, all in dismay, 
their mother, Queen Telephassa,' (who happened 
not to be by when they told the story to the. 
king,) came hurrying after them, and said that 
she too would go in quest of her daughter. 

" O, no, mother ! " cried the boys. " The night 
is dark, and there is no knowing what troubles 
and perils we may meet with." 

" Alas ! my dear children," answered pooi 
Queen Telephassa, weeping bitterly, "that is 
only another reason why I should go with you. 
If I should lose you, too, as well as my little 
Europa, what would become of me ! " 

" And let me go likewise ! " said their playfel- 
low Thasus, who came running to join them. 

Thasus was the son of a seafaring person in 
the neighborhood ; he had been brought up with 
the young princes, and was their intimate friend, 
and loved Europa very much ; so they consented 
that he should accompany them. The whole 



118 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 

party, therefore, set forth together. Cadmus, 
Phoenix, Cilix, and Thasus clustered round 
Queen Telephassa, grasping her skirts, and beg- 
ging her to lean upon their shoulders, whenever 
she felt weary. In this manner they went down 
the palace steps, and began a journey, which 
turned out to be a great deal longer than they 
dreamed of. The last that they saw of King 
Agenor, he came to the door, with a servant 
holding a torch beside him, and called after them 
into the gathering darkness : — 

" Remember ! Never ascend these steps again 
without the child ! " 

" Never ! " sobbed Queen Telephassa ; and the 
three brothers and Thasus answered, " Never 
Never ! Never ! Never ! " 

And they kept their word. Year after year 
King Agenor sat in the solitude of his beautiful 
palace, listening in vain for their returning foot- 
steps, hoping to hear the familiar voice of the 
queen, and the cheerful talk of his sons and their 
playfellow Thasus, entering the door together, 
and the sweet, childish accents of little Europa 
in the midst of them. But so long a time went 
by, that, at last, if they had really come, the king 



119 

would not have known that this was the voice 
of Telephassa, and those the younger voices that 
used to make such joyful echoes, when the chii 
dren were playing about the palace. We must 
now leave King Agenor to sit on his throne, and 
must go along with Queen Telephassa and hei 
four youthful companions. 

They went on and on, and travelled a long 
way, and passed ever mountains and rivers, and 
sailed over seas. Here, and there, and every 
where, they made continual inquiry if any person 
could tell them what had become of Europa. 
The rustic people, of whom they asked this ques- 
tion, paused a little while from their labors in 
the field, and looked very much surprised. They 
thought it strange to behold a woman in the garb 
of a queen, (for Telephassa, in her haste, had 
forgotten to take off her crown and her royal 
robes,) roaming about the country, with four lads 
around her, on such an errand as this seemed to 
be. But nobody could give them any tidings of 
Europa ; nobody had seen a little girl dressed 
like a princess, and mounted on a snow-white 
bull, which galloped as swiftly as the wind. 

I cannot tell you how long Queen Telephassa, 



120 



and Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, her three sons, 
and Thasus, their playfellow, went wandering 
along the highways and bypaths, or through the 
pathless wildernesses of the earth, in this manner. 
But certain it is, that, before they reached any 
place of rest, their splendid garments were quite 
worn out. They all looked very much travel- 
stained, and would have had the dust of many 
countries on their shoes, if the streams, through 
which they waded, had not washed it all away. 
When they had been gone a year, Telephassa 
threw away her crown, because it chafed her 
forehead. 

" It has given me many a headache," said the 
poor queen, " and it cannot cure my heartache." 

As fast as their princely robes got torn and 
tattered, they exchanged them for such mean 
attire as ordinary people wore. By and by, they 
came to have a wild and homeless aspect ; so 
that you would much sooner have taken them 
for a gypsy family than a queen and three 
princes, and a young nobleman, who had once a 
palace for their home, and a train of servants to 
do their bidding. The four boys grew up to be 
tall young men, with sunburnt faces. Each 



121 



of them girded on a sword, to defend them- 
selves against the perils of the way. When the 
husbandmen, at whose farm houses they sought 
hospitality, needed their assistance in the harvest 
field, they gave it willingly ; and Queen Tele* 
ohassa (who had done no work in her palace, 
save to braid silk threads with golden ones) 
came behind them to bind the sheaves. If pay- 
ment was offered, they shook their heads, and 
•uily asked for tidings of Europa. 

" There are bulls enough in my pasture," the 
lid farmers would reply ; " but I never heard of 
me like this you tell me of. A snow-white bull 
*ith a little princess on his back ! Ho ! ho ! T 
«isk your pardon, good folks ; but there never 
was such a sight seen hereabouts.' , 

At last, when his upper lip began to have the 
down on it, Phoenix grew weary of rambling 
hither and thither to no purpose. So, one day, 
when they happened to be passing through a 
pleasant and solitary tract of country, he sat 
himself down on a heap of moss. 

' i? I can go no farther," said Phoenix. " It is a 
mere foolish waste of life, to spend it, as we do, 
in always wandering up and down, and neveT 



122 the dragon's teeth. 

coming to any homo at nightfall. Our sister is 
lost, and never will be found. She probably 
perished in the sea; or, to whatever shore the 
white bull may have carried her, it is now so 
many years ago, that there would be neither 
love nor acquaintance between us, should we 
meet again. My father has forbidden us to re- 
turn to his palace; so I shall build me a hut 
of branches, and dwell here." 

" Well, son Phoenix," said Telephassa, sorrow- 
fully, " you have grown to be a man, and must 
do as you judge best. But, for my part, I will 
still go in quest of my poor child." 

" And we three will go along with you ! " cried 
Cadmus and Cilix, and their faithful friend 
Thasus. 

But, before setting out, they all helped Phoe- 
nix to build a habitation. When completed, it 
was a sweet rural bower, roofed overhead with 
an arch of living boughs. Inside there were 
two pleasant rooms, one of which had a soft 
heap of moss for a bed, while the other was 
furnished with a rustic seat or two, curiously 
fashioned out of the crooked roots of trees. So 
comfortable and home-like did it seem, that 



the dragon's teeth. 123 

Telephassa and her three companions could not 
help signing, to think that they must still roam 
about the world, instead .of spending the remain- 
der of their lives in some such cheerful abode as 
they had here built for Phoenix. But, when 
they bade him farewell, Phoenix shed tears, and 
probably regretted that he was no longer to keep 
them company. 

However, he had fixed upon an admirable 
place to dwell in. And by and by there came 
other people, who chanced to have no homes ; 
and, seeing how pleasant a spot it was, they 
built themselves huts in the neighborhood of 
Phoenix's habitation. Thus, before many years 
went by, a city had grown up there, in the cen- 
tre of which was seen a stately palace of marble, 
wherein dwelt Phoenix, clothed in a purple robe, 
and wearing a golden crown upon his head. 
For the inhabitants of the new city, finding that 
he had royal blood in his veins, had chosen him 
to be their king. The very first decree of state 
which King Phoenix issued was, that, if a 
maiden happened to arrive in the kingdom, 
mounted on a snow-white bull, and calling her- 
self Europa, his subjects should treat her with 



124 the dragon's teeth. 

the greatest kindness and respect, and irame 
diately bring her to the palace. You may sec, 
by this, that Phoenix's, conscience never quite 
ceased to tiouble him, for giving up the quest of 
his dear sister, and sitting himself down to be 
comfortable, while his mother and her compan- 
ions went onward. 

But often and often, at the close of a weary 
day's journey, did Telephassa and Cadmus, Ci- 
lix and Thasus, remember the pleasant spot in 
which they had left Phoenix. It was a sorrow- 
ful prospect for these wanderers, that on the 
morrow they must again set forth, and that, 
after many nightfalls, they would perhaps be no 
nearer the close of their toilsome pilgrimage than 
now. These thoughts made them all melan- 
choly at times, but appeared to torment Cilix 
more than the rest of the party At length, 
one morning, when they were taking theii 
staffs in hand to set out. he thus addressed 
them : — 

" My dear mother, and you good brother Cad 
mus, and my friend Thasus, methinks we are 
like people in a dream. There is no substance 
in the life which we are leading. It is such a 



THE dragon's teeth. 125 

dreary length of time since the white bull carried 
off my sister Europa, that I have quite forgotten 
how she looked, and the tones of her voice, and, 
indeed, almost doubt whether such a little girl 
ever lived in the world. And whether she once 
lived or no, I am convinced that she no longer 
survives, and that therefore it is the merest folly 
to waste our own lives and happiness in seeking 
her. Were we to find her, she would now be a 
woman grown, and would look upon us all as 
strangers. So, to tell you the truth, I have re- 
solved to take up my abode here ; and I entreat 
you, mother, brother, and friend, to follow my 
example." 

" Not I, for one," said Telephassa ; although 
the poor queen, firmly as she spoke, was so 
travel-worn that she could hardly put her foot to 
the ground. " Not I for one ! In the depths of 
my heart, little Europa is still the rosy child 
$/ho ran to gather flowers so many years ago. 
She has not grown to womanhood, nor forgotten 
me. At noon, at night, journeying onward, 
sitting down to rest, her childish voice i? always 
in my ears, calling ' Mother ! mother ! ' Stop 
here who may, there is no repose for me.' 



126 the dragon's teeth. 

" Nor for me," said Cadmus, " while my dear 
mother pleases to go onward." 

And the faithful Thasus, too, was resolved to 
bear them company. They remained with Cilix 
a few days, however, and helped him to build a 
rustic bower, resembling the one which they had 
formerly built for Phoenix. 

When they were bidding him farewell, Cilix 
burst into tears, and told his mother that it 
seemed just as melancholy a dream to stay there, 
in solitude, as to go onward. If she really be- 
lieved that they would ever find Europa, he was 
willing to continue the search with them, even 
now. But Telephassa bade him remain there, and 
be happy, if his own heart would let him. So the 
pilgrims took their leave of him, and departed, 
and were hardly out of sight before some other 
wandering people came along that way, and saw 
Cilix's habitation, and were greatly delighted 
with the appearance of the place. There being 
abundance of unoccupied ground in the neigh- 
borhood, these strangers built huts for themselves, 
and were soon joined by a multitude of new set- 
tlers s who quickly formed a city. In the middle 
of it was seen a magnificent palace of colored 



THE dragon's teeth. 127 

marble, on the balcony of which, every noontide, 
appeared Cilix, in a long purple robe, and with 
a jewelled crown upon his head ; for the inhabit 
ants, when they found out that he was a king's 
son, had considered him the fittest of all men to 
be a king himself. 

One of the first acts of King Cilix's govern- 
ment was to send out an expedition, consisting 
of a grave ambassador and an escort of bold and 
hardy young men, with orders to visit the prin- 
cipal kingdoms of the earth, and inquire whether 
a young maiden had passed through those re- 
gions, galloping swiftly on a white bull. It is, 
therefore, plain to my mind, that Cilix secretly 
blamed himself for giving up the search for Eu- 
ropa, as long as he was able to put one foot 
before the other. 

As for Telephassa, and Cadmus, and the good 
Thasus, it grieves me to think of them, still keep- 
ing up that weary pilgrimage. The two young 
men did their best for the poor queen, helping 
her over the rough places, often carrying her 
across rivulets in their faithful arms, and seeking 
to shelter her at nightfall, even when they them« 
selves lay on the ground. Sad, sad it was to 



THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 

heai thorn asking of every passer by if he had 
seen Europa, so long after the white bull had 
carried her away. But, though the gray years 
thrust ihemselves between, and made the child's 
figure dim in their remembrance, neither of these 
true-hearted three ever dreamed of giving up the 
search. 

One morning, however, poor Thasus found 
that he had sprained his ankle, and could not 
possibly go a step farther. 

" After a few days, to be sure," said he, mourn- 
fully, " I might make shift to hobble along with 
a stick. Bat that would only delay you, and 
perhaps hinder you from finding dear little Eu- 
ropa, after all your pains and trouble. Do you 
go forward, therefore, my beloved companions, 
and leave me to follow as I may." 

" Thou hast been a true friend, dear Thasu?," 
said Queen Telephassa, kissing his forehead. 
" Being neither my son, nor the brother of our 
lost Europa, thou hast shown thyself truer to me 
and her than Phoenix and Cilix did, whom we 
have left behind us. Without thy loving help, 
and that of my son Cadmus, my limbs could 
not have borne me half so far as this. Now, 



ihe dragon's teeth. 129 

take thy rest, and be at peace. For — and it is 
the first time I have owned it to myself — I begin 
to question whether we shall ever find my be- 
loved daughter in this world.' 1 

Saying this, the poor queen shed tears, because 
it was a grievous trial to the mother's heart to 
confess that her hopes were growing faint. From 
that day forward, Cadmus noticed that she never 
travelled with the same alacrity of spirit that had 
heretofore supported her. Her weight was heav- 
ier upon his arm. 

Before setting out, Cadmus helped Thasus 
build a bower ; while Telephassa, being too in- 
firm to give any great assistance, advised them 
how to fit it up and furnish it, so that it might 
be as comfortable as a hut of branches could. 
Thasus, however, did not spend all his days in 
this green bower. For it happened to him, as to 
Phoenix and Cilix, that other homeless people 
visited the spot, and liked it, and built them- 
selves habitations in the neighborhood. So here, 
in the course of a few years, was another thriv- 
ing city, with a red freestone palace in the centre 
of it, where Thasus sat upon a throne, doing 
justice to the people, with a purple robe over his 
9 



L30 the dragon's teeth. 

shoulders, a sceptre in his hand, and a crown 
upon his head. The inhabitants had made him 
King, not for the sake of any royal blood, (for 
none was in his veins,) but because Thasus wag 
an upright, true-hearted, and courageous man, 
and therefore fit to rule. 

But, when the affairs of his kingdom were all 
settled, King Thasus laid aside his purple robe, 
and crown, and sceptre, and bade his worthiest 
subject distribute justice to the people in his 
stead. Then, grasping the pilgrim's staif that 
had supported him so long, he set forth again, 
hoping still to discover some hoof mark of the 
snow-white bull, some trace of the vanished 
child. He returned, after a lengthened absence, 
and sat down wearily upon his throne. To his 
latest hour, nevertheless, King Thasus showed 
his true-hearted remembrance of Europa, by or- 
dering that a fire should always be kept burning 
in his palace, and a bath steaming hot, and food 
ready to be served up, and a bed with snow 
white sheets, in case the maiden should arrive, 
ana require immediate refreshment. And though 
Europa never came, the good Thasus had eh* 3 
blessings of many a poor traveller, who profit^ 



THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 131 

by the food and lodging which were meant fo? 
the little playmate of the king's boyhood. 

Telephassa and Cadmus were now pursuing 
their weary way, with no companion but each 
other. The queen leaned heavily upon her son's 
arm, and could walk only a few miles a day. 
But for all her weakness and weariness, she 
would not be persuaded to give up the search. 
It was enough to bring tears into the eyes of 
bearded men to hear the melancholy tone with 
which she inquired of every stranger whether he 
could tell her any news of the lost child. 

" Have you seen a little girl — no, no, 1 mean 
a young maiden of full growth — passing by this 
way, mounted on a snow-white bull, which gal- 
lops as swiftly as the wind ? " 

" We have seen no such wondrous sight," the 
people would reply; and very often, taking Cad- 
mus aside, they whispered to him, " Is this 
stately and sad-looking woman your mother? 
Surely she is not in her right mind; and you 
ought to take her home, and make her comfort- 
able, and do your best to get this dream out of 
her fancy." 

" It is no dream," said Cadmus. " Every 
thing else is a dream, savp that" 



l32 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 

But, one day, Telephassa seemed feebler than 
usual, and leaned almost her whole weight on 
the arm of Cadmus, and walked more slowly 
than ever before. At last they reached a soli- 
tary spot, where she told her son that she must 
needs lie down, and take a good, long rest. 

"A good, long rest!" she repeated, looking 
Cadmus tenderly in the face. " A good, long 
rest, thou dearest one!" 

" As long as you please, dear mother," an- 
swered Cadmus. 

Telephassa bade him sit down on the turf 
beside her, and then she took his hand. 

" My son," said she, fixing her dim eyes 
most lovingly upon him, " this rest that I speak 
of will be very long indeed ! You must not 
wait till it is finished. Dear Cadmus, you do 
not comprehend me. You must make a grave 
here, and lay your mother's weary frame into it. 
My pilgrimage is over." 

Cadmus burst into tears, and, for a long time, 
refused to believe that his dear mother was now 
to be taken from him. But Telephassa reasoned 
with him, and kissed him, and at length made 
him discern that it was better for her spirit to 



THE LRAGON T S TEETH. 133 

pass away out of the toil, the weariness, the 
grief, and disappointment which had burdened 
her on earth, ever since the child was lost. He 
therefore repressed his sorrow, and listened to 
her last words. 

" Dearest Cadmus," said she, " thou hast been 
the truest son that ever mother had, and faithful 
to the very last. Who else would have borne 
with my infirmities as thou hast ! It is owing 
to thy care, thou tenderest child, that my grave 
was not dug long years ago, in some valley or 
on some hillside, that lies far, far behind us. It 
is enough. Thou shalt wander no more on this 
hopeless search. But, when thou hast laid thy 
mother in the earth, then go, my son, to Delphi, 
and inquire of the oracle what thou shalt do 
next." 

" O mother, mother," cried Cadmus, " couldst 
thou but have seen my sister before this hour ! " 

" It matters little pow," answered Telephassa, 
and there was a smile upon her face. " I go 
now to the better world, and, sooner or later, shall 
find my daughter there." 

I will not sadden you, my little hearers, with 
telling how Telephassa died and was buried, but 



134 THE dragon's teeth. 

will only say, that her dying smile grew brighter, 
instead of vanishing from her dead face ; so that 
Cadmus felt convinced that, at her very first 
step into the better world, she had caught Eu- 
ropa in her arms. He planted some flowers on 
his mother's grave, and left them to grow there, 
and make the place beautiful, when he should 
be far away. 

After performing this last sorrowful duty, he 
set forth alone, and took the road towards the 
famous oracle of Delphi, as Telephassa had ad- 
vised him. On his way thither, he still inquired 
of most people whom he met whether they had. 
seen Europa; for, to say the truth, Cadmus had 
grown so accustomed to ask the question, that it 
came to his lips as readily as a remark about the 
weather. He received various answers. Some 
told him one thing, and some another. Among 
the rest, a mariner affirmed, that, many years 
before, in a distant country, he had heard a ru- 
mor about a white bull, which came swimming 
across the sea with a child on his back, dressed 
up in flowers that were blighted by the sea 
tvater. He did not know what had become of 
the child or the bull ; and Cadmus suspected 



the dragon's teeth. 135 

indeed, by a queer twinkle in the mariner's eyes, 
that he was putting a joke upon him, and had 
never really heard any thing about the matter. 

Poor Cadmus found it more wearisome to 
travel alone than to bear all his dear mother's 
weight, while she had kept him company. His 
heart, you will understand, was now so heavy that 
it seemed impossible, sometimes, to carry it any 
farther. But his limbs were strong and active, 
and well accustomed to exercise. He walked 
swiftly along, thinking of King Agenor and 
Queen Telephassa, and his brothers, and the 
friendly Thasus, all of whom he had left behind 
him, at one point of his pilgrimage or another, 
and never expected to see them any more. Full 
of these remembrances, he came within sight of 
a lofty mountain, which the people thereabouts 
told him was called Parnassus. On the slope 
of Mount Parnassus was the famous Delphi, 
whither Cadmus was going. 

This Delphi was supposed to be the very mid- 
most spot of the whole world. The place of the 
oracle was a certain cavity in the mountain side, 
over which, when Cadmas came thither, he found 
a rude bower of branches. It reminded him of 



*s 



L36 THE DRAGON S TEETH. 

those which he had helped to build for PhoenSy 
and Cilix, and afterwards for Thasus. In later 
times, when multitudes of people came from great 
distances to put questions to the oracle, a spacious 
temple of marble was erected over the spot. 
But in the days of Cadmus, as I have told you, 
there was only this rustic bower, with its abun- 
dance of green foliage, and a tuft of shrubbery, 
that ran wild over the mysterious hole in the 
hillside. 

When Cadmus had thrust a passage through 
the tangled boughs, and made his way into the 
bower, he did not at first discern the half-hidden 
cavity. But soon he felt a cold stream of ain> 
rushing out of it, with so much force that it 
shook the ringlets on his cheek. Pulling away 
the shrubbery which clustered over the hole, he 
bent forward, and spoke in a distinct but rev- 
erential tone, as if addressing some unseen per- 
sonage inside of the mountain. 

" Sacred oracle of Delphi," said he, " whithei 
shall I go next in quest of my dear sister Eu 
ropa?" 

Ther3 was at first a deep silence, and then a 
rushing sound, or a noise like a long sigh 



THE dragon's teeth. 137 

proceeding out of the interior of the earth. This 
cavity, you must know, was looked upon as a 
sort of fountain of truth, which sometimes 
gushed out in audible words ; although, for the 
most part, these words were such a riddle that 
they might just as well have staid at the bottom 
of the hole. But Cadmus was more fortunate 
than many others who went to Delphi in search 
of truth. By and by, the rushing noise began 
to sound like articulate language. It repeated, 
over and over again, the following sentence, 
which, after all, was so like the vague whistle of 
a blast of air, that Cadmus really did not quite 
v.kno\v whether it meant any thing or not: — 

" Seek her no more ! Seek her no more ! Seek 
her no more ! " 

" What, then, shall I do ?" asked Cadmus. 

For, ever since he was a child, you know, it 
had been the great object of his life to find his 
sister. From the very hour that he left follow- 
ing the butterfly in the meadow, near his father's 
palace, he had done his best to follow Europa, 
over land and sea. And now, if he must give 
top the search, he seemed to have no more busi- 
ness in the world. 



138 the dpagon's teeth. 

But again the sighing gust of air grew intc 
something like a hoarse voice. 

" Follow the cow ! " it said. " Follow the 
cow ! Follow the cow ! " 

And when these words had been repeated 
until Cadmus was tired of hearing them, (es- 
pecially as he could not imagine what cow it 
was, or why he was to follow her,) the gusty hole 
gave vent to another sentence. 

" Where the stray cow lies down, there is your 
home.' , 

These words Were pronounced but a single 
time, and died away into a whisper before Cad- 
mus was fully satisfied that he had caught the 
meaning. He put other questions, but received 
no answer; only the gust of wind sighed con- 
tinually out of the cavity, and blew the withered 
leaves rustling along the ground before it. 

" Did there really come any words out of the 
hole ? " thought Cadmus ; "or have I been 
dreaming all this while ? " 

He turned away from the oracle, and thought 
himself no wiser than when he came thither. 
Caring little what might happen to him, he took 
the first path that offered itself, and went along 



the dragon's teeth. 139 

at a sluggish pace ; for, having no object in view, 
nor any reason to go one way more than an- 
other, it would certainly have been foolish to 
make haste. Whenever he met any body, the 
old question was at his tongue's end : — 

" Have you seen a beautiful maiden, dressed 
like a king's daughter, and mounted on a snow- 
white bull, that gallops as swiftly as the wind?" 

But, remembering what the oracle had said, 
he only half uttered the words, and then mum- 
bled the rest indistinctly; and from his confu- 
sion, people must have imagined that this hand- 
some young man had lost his wits. 

I know not how far Cadmus had gone, nor 
could he himself have told you, when, at no 
great distance before him, he beheld a brindled 
cow. She was lying down by the wayside, and 
quietly chewing her cud ; nor did she take any 
notice of the young man until he had approached 
pretty nigh. Then, getting leisurely upon her 
feet, and giving her head a gentle toss, she began 
to move along at a moderate pace, often paus- 
ing just long enough to crop a mouthful of grass. 
Cadmus loitered behind, whistling idly to him- 
self, and scarcely noticing the cow ; until the 



140 



thought occurred to him, whether this could pos- 
sibly be the animal which, according to the ora- 
cle's response, was to serve him for a guide. But 
he smiled at himself for fancying such a thing. 
He could not seriously think that this was the 
cow, because she went along so quietly, behaving 
just like any other cow. Evidently she neither 
knew nor cared so much as a wisp of hay about 
Cadmus, and was only thinking how to get her 
living along the wayside, where the herbage was 
green and fresh. Perhaps she was going home 
to be milked. 

" Cow, cow, cow ! " cried Cadmus. " Hey, 
Brindle, hey ! Stop, my good cow." 

He wanted to come up with the cow, so as 
to examine her, and see if she would appear to 
know him, or whether there were any peculiar- 
ities to distinguish her from a thousand other 
cows, whose only business is to fill the milk pail, 
and sometimes kick it over. But still the brin- 
dled cow trudged on, whisking her tail to keep 
the flies away, and taking as little notice of Cad- 
mus as she well could. If he walked slowly, so 
did the cow, and seized the opportunity to graze. 
If he quickened his pace, the cow went just so 



THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 141 

much the faster ; and once, when Cadmus tried 
to catch her by running, she threw out her heels, 
stuck her tail straight on end, and set off at a 
gallop, looking as queerly as cows generally do, 
while putting themselves to their speed. 

When Cadmus saw that it was impossible to 
come up with her, he walked on moderately, as 
before. The cow, too, went leisurely on, without 
looking behind. Wherever the grass was green- 
est, there she nibbled a mouthful or two. Where 
a brook glistened brightly across the path, there 
the cow drank, and breathed a comfortable sigh, 
and drank again, and trudged onward at the 
pace that best suited herself and Cadmus. 

"I do believe," thought Cadmus, "that this 
may be the cow that was foretold me. If it be 
the one, I suppose she will lie down somewhere 
hereabouts.' , 

Whether it were the oracular cow or some 
other one, it did not seem reasonable that she 
should travel a great way farther. So, whenever 
they reached a particularly pleasant spot on a 
breezy hillside, or in a sheltered vale, or flowery 
meadow, on the shore of a calm lake, or along 
the bank of a clear stream, Cadmus looked 



142 the dragon's tefth. 

eagerly around to see if the 'situation would suit 
him for a home. But still, whether he liked the 
place or no, the brindled cow never offered to lie 
down. On she went at the quiet pace of a cow 
going homeward to the barn yard; and, every 
moment, Cadmus expected to see a milkmaid ap- 
proaching with a pail, or a herdsman running to 
head the stray animal, and turn her back towards 
the pasture. But no milkmaid came ; no herds- 
man drove her back ; and Cadmus followed the 
stray Brindle till he was almost ready to drop 
down with fatigue. 

" O, brindled cow," cried he, in a tone of de- 
spair, " do you never mean to stop ? " 

He had now grown too intent on following 
her to think of lagging behind, however long 
the way, and whatever might be his fatigue 
Indeed, it seemed as if there were something 
about the animal that bewitched people. Several 
persons who happened to see the brindled cow 
and Cadmus following behind, began to trudge 
after her, precisely as he did. Cadmus was glad 
of somebody to converse with, and therefore 
talked very freely to these good people. He told 
them all his adventures, and how he had left 



the dragon's teeth. 143 

Ring A.genor in his palace, and Phoenix at one 
place, and Cilix at another, and Thasus at a 
third, and his dear mother, Queen Telephassa, 
under a flowery sod; so that now he was quite 
alone, both friendless and homeless. He men- 
tioned, likewise, that the oracie had bidden him 
be guided by a cow, and inquired of the stran- 
gers whether they supposed that this brindled 
animal could be the one. 

" Why, 'tis a very wonderful affair," answered 
one of his new companions. " I am pretty well 
acquainted with the ways of cattle, and I never 
knew a cow, of her own accord, to go so fa* with 
out stopping. If my legs will let me, I'll never 
leave following the beast till she lies down" 

" Nor I ! " said a second. 

" Nor I ! " cried a third. " If she goes a hurs 
dred miles farther, I'm determined to see the end 
of it." 

The secret of it was, you must know, that tht 
cow was an enchanted cow, and that, without. 
their being conscious of it, she threw some of her 
enchantment over every body that took so much 
as half a dozen steps behind her. They could 
not possibly help following her, though, all the 



144 



time, they fancied themselves doing it of theii 
own accord. The cow was by no means very 
nice in choosing her path ; so that sometimes 
they had to scramble over rocks, or wade through 
mud and mire, and were all in a terribly bedrag- 
gled condition, and tired to death, and very 
hungry, into the bargain. What a weary busi- 
ness it was! 

But still they kept trudging stoutly forward, 
and talking as they went. The strangers grew 
very fond of Cadmus, and resolved never to leave 
him, but to help him build a city wherever the 
cow might lie down. In the centre of it there 
should be a noble palace, in which Cadmus 
might dwell, and be their king, with a throne, a 
crown, and sceptre, a purple robe, and every 
thing else that a king ought to have ; for in him 
there was the royal blood, and the royal heart, 
and the head that knew how to rule. 

While they were talking of these schemes 
and beguiling the tediousness of the way with 
laying out the plan of the new city, one of the 
company happened to look at the cow. 

" Joy ! joy ! " cried he, clapping his hands. 
tt Brindle is going to lie down." 



the dragon's teeth. 145 

They all looked; and, sure enough, tht cow 
had stopped and was staring leisurely aoout 
her, as other cows do when on the point oi lying 
down. And slowly, slowly did she recline her- 
self on the soft grass, first bending her fore legs, 
and then crouching her hind ones. When Cad- 
mus and his companions came up with her, 
there was the brindled cow taking her ease, 
chewing her cud, and looking them quietly in 
the face ; as if this was just the spot she had 
been seeking for, and as if it were all a matter 
of course. 

" This - , then," said Cadmus, gazing around 
him, " this is to be my home." 

It was a fertile and lovely plain, with great 
trees flinging their sun-speckled shadows over it, 
and hills fencing it in from the rough weather. 
At no great distance, they beheld a river gleam- 
ing in the sunshine. A home feeling stole into 
the heart of poor Cadmus. He was very glad 
to know that here he might awake in the morn- 
ing, without the necessity of putting on his 
dusty sandals to travel farther and farther. The 
days and the years would pass over him, and 
find him still in this pleasant spot. If he coul(? 
10 



146 



have had his brothers with him, and his friend 
Thasus, and could have seen his dear mothet 
under a roof of his own, he might here have 
been happy, after all their disappointments. 
Some day or other, too, his sister Europa might 
have come quietly to the door of his home, and 
smiled round upon the familiar faces. But, in- 
deed, since there was no hope of regaining the 
friends of his boyhood, or ever seeing his dear 
sister again, Cadmus resolved to make himsell 
happy with these new companions, who had 
grown so fond of him while following the cow. 

" Yes, my friends," said he to them, " this is 
to be our home. Here we will build our habita- 
tions. The brindled cow, which has led us 
hither, will supply us with milk. We will culti- 
vate the neighboring soil, and lead an innocent 
and happy life." 

His companions joyfully assented to this plan; 
and, in the first place, being very hungry and 
thirsty, they looked about them for the means of 
providing a comfortable meal. Not far off, they 
saw a tuft of trees, which appeared as if there 
might be a spring of water beneath them. They 
went thither to fetch some, leaving Cadmus 



the dragon's teeth. 147 

Btretched on the ground along with the brindled 
cow ; for, now that he had found a place of rest, 
it seemed as if all the weariness of his pilgrim- 
age, ever since he left King Agenor's palace, had 
fallen upon him at once. But his new friends 
had not long been gone, when he was suddenly 
startled by cries, shouts, and screams, and the 
noise of a terrible struggle, and in the midst of 
it all, a most awful hissing, which went right 
through his ears like a rough saw. 

Running towards the tuft of trees, he beheld 
the head and fiery eyes of an immense serpent or 
dragon, with the widest jaws that ever a dragon 
had, and a vast many rows of horribly sharp 
teeth. Before Cadmus could reach the spot, this 
pitiless reptile had killed his poor companions, 
and was busily devouring them, making but a 
mouthful of each man. 

It appears that the fountain of water was en- 
chanted, and that the dragon had been set to 
guard it, so that no mortal might ever quench 
his thirst there. As the neighboring inhabitants 
jjarefully avoided the spot, it was now a long 
time (not less than a hundred years, or there- 
abouts) since the monster had broken his fast ; 



148 



and, as was natural enough, his appetite had 
grown to be enormous, and was not half satisfied 
by the poor people whom he had just eaten up. 
When he caught sight of Cadmus, therefore, he 
set up another abominable hiss, and flung back 
his immense jaws, until his mouth looked like 
a great red cavern, at the farther end of which 
were seen the legs of his last victim, whom he 
had hardly had time to swallow. 

But Cadmus was so enraged at the destruc- 
tion of his friends, that he cared neither for the 
size of the dragon's jaws nor for his hundreds 
of sharp teeth. Drawing his sword, he rushed 
at the monster, and flung himself right into his 
cavernous mouth. This bold method of attack- 
ing him took the dragon by surprise ; for, in fact, 
Cadmus had leaped so fai down into his throat, 
that the rows of terrible teeth could not close 
upon him, nor do him the least harm in the 
world. Thus, though the struggle was a tre- 
mendous one, and though the dragon shattered 
the tuft of trees into small splinters by the lash- 
ing of his tail, yet, as Cadmus was all the while 
slashing and stabbing at his very vitals, it waa 
not long before the scaly wretch bethought 



THE DRAGON S TEETH. 149 

himse.f of slipping away. He had not gone hia 
length, however, when the brave Cadmus gave 
him a sword thrust that finished the battle ; and, 
creeping out of the gateway of the creature's 
jaws, there he beheld him still wriggling his vast 
bulk, although there was no longer life enough 
in him to harm a little child. 

But do not you suppose that it made Cadmus 
sorrowful to think of the melancholy fate which 
had befallen those poor, friendly people, who had 
followed the cow along with him ? It seemed 
as if he were doomed to lose every body whom 
he loved, or to see them perish in one way or 
another. And here he was, after all his toils and 
troubles, in a solitary place, with not a single 
human being to help him build a hut. 

" What shall I do ? " cried he aloud. " It were 
better for me to have been devoured by the 
dragon, as my poor companions were." 

" Cadmus," said a voice — but whether it 
same from above or below him, or whether it 
spoke within his own breast, the young man 
could not tell — " Cadmus, pluck out the drag- 
on's teeth, and plant them in the earth." 

This was a strange thing to do ; nor was it 



150 the dragon's teeth. 

very easy, I should imagine, to dig out all those 
deep-rooted fangs from the dead dragon's jaws. 
But Cadmus toiled and tugged, and after pound- 
ing the monstrous head almost to pieces with a 
great stone, he at last collected as many teeth as 
might have rilled a bushel or two. The next 
thing was to plant them. This, likewise, was a 
tedious piece of work, especially as Cadmus was 
already exhausted with killing the dragon and 
knocking his head to pieces, and had nothing to 
dig the earth with, that I know of, unless it were 
his sword blade. Finally, however, a sufficiently 
large tract of ground was turned up, and sown 
with this new kind of seed ; although half of the 
dragon's teeth still remained to be planted some 
other day. 

Cadmus, quite out of breath, stood leaning 
upon his sword, and wondering what was to 
happen next. He had waited but a few mo- 
ments, when he began to see a sight, which was 
as great a marvel as the most marvellous thing 
I ever told you about. 

The sun was shining slantwise over the field, 
and showed all the moist, dark soil, just like any 
other newly-planted piece of ground. All al 



151 



once, Cadrnus fancied he saw something glisten 
very brightly, first at one spot, then at another, 
and then at a hundred and a thousand spots 
together. Soon he perceived them to be the 
steel heads of spears, sprouting up every where 
like so many stalks of grain, and continually 
growing taller and taller. Next appeared a vast 
number of bright sword blades, thrusting them- 
selves up in the same way. A moment after- 
wards, the whole surface of the ground was 
broken by a multitude of polished brass hel- 
mets, coming up like a crop of enormous beans. 
So rapidly did they grow, that Cadmus now dis- 
cerned the fierce countenance of a man beneath 
every one. In short, before he had time to think 
what a wonderful affair it was, he beheld an 
abundant harvest of what looked like human 
beings, armed with helmets and breastplates, 
shields, swords, and spears ; and before they 
were well out of the earth, they brandished their 
weapons, and clashed them one against another, 
seeming to think, little while as they had yet 
Lived, that they had wasted too much of life 
without a battle. Every tooth of the dragon had 
produced one of these sons of deadly mischief 



ib2 



Up sprouted, also, a great many trumpeters ) 
and with the first breath that they drew, they 
put their brazen trumpets to their lips, and 
sounded a tremendous and ear-shattering blast ; 
so that the whole space, just now so quiet and 
solitary, reverberated with the clash and clang 
of arms, the bray of warlike music, and the 
shouts of angry men. So enraged did they all 
look, that Cadmus fully expected them to put 
the whole world to the sword. How fortunate 
would it be for a great conqueror, if he could get 
a bushel of the dragon's teeth to sow ! 

" Cadmus," said the same voice which he had 
before heard, " throw a stone into the midst of 
the armed men." 

So Cadmus seized a large stone, and, flinging 
it into the middle of the earth army, saw it strike 
the breastplate of a gigantic and fierce-looking 
warrior. Immediately on feeling the blow, he 
seemed to take it for granted that somebody 
had struck him ; and, uplifting his weapon, he 
smote his next neighbor a blow that cleft his 
helmet asunder, and stretched him on the ground. 
In an instant, those nearest the fallen warrioi 
began io strike at one another with their swoids. 



THE dragon's teeth. 153 

and stab with their spears. The confusion 
spread wider and wider. Each man smote 
down his brother, and was himself smitten down 
before he had time to exult in his victory. The 
trumpeters, all the while, blew their blasts shriller 
and shriller ; each soldier shouted a battle cry, 
and often fell with it on his lips. It was the 
strangest spectacle of causeless wrath, and of 
mischief for no good end, that had ever been 
witnessed; but, after all, it was neither more 
foolish nor more wicked than a thousand battles 
that have since been fought, in which men have 
slain their brothers with just as little reason as 
these children of the dragon's teeth. It ought to 
be considered, too, that the dragon people were 
made for nothing else ; whereas other mortals 
were born to love and help one another. 

Well, this memorable battle continued to 
rage until the ground was strewn with helmeted 
heads that had been cut off. Of all the thou- 
sands that began the fight, there were only five 
left standing. These now rushed from different 
parts of the field, and, meeting in the middle 
of it, clashed their swords, and struck at each 
other's hearts as fiercely as ever. 



154 THE DRAGON S TEETH. 

" Cadmus," said the voice again, " bid those 
five warriors sheathe their swords. They will 
help you to build the city." 

Without hesitating an instant, Cadmus stepped 
forward, with the aspect of a king and a leader 
and extending his drawn sword amongst them, 
spoke to the warriors in a stern and command- 
ing voice. 

" Sheathe your weapons ! ,J said he. 

And forthwith, feeling themselves bound to 
obey him, the five remaining sons of the drag- 
on's teeth made him a military salute with their 
swords, returned them to the scabbards, and 
stood before Cadmus in a rank, eying him as 
soldiers eye their captain, while awaiting the 
word of command. 

These five men had probably sprung from the 
biggsst of the dragon's teeth, and were the bold- 
est and strongest of the whole army. They were 
almost giants indeed, and had good need to be 
so, else they never could have lived through so 
terrible a fight. They still had a very furious 
look, and, if Cadmus happened to glance aside, 
would glare at one another, with fire flashing 
out of their eyes. It was strange, too, to ol> 



155 



serve how the earth, out of which they had so 
lately grown, was incrusted, here and there, on 
their brightbreastplates, and even begrimed their 
faces; just as you may have seen it clinging to 
beets and carrots, when pulled out of their native 
soil. Cadmus hardly knew whether to consider 
them as men, or some odd kind of vegetable 
although, on the whole, he concluded that there 
was human nature in them, because they were 
so fond of trumpets and weapons, and so ready 
to shed blood. 

They looked him earnestly in the face, wait- 
ing for his next order, and evidently desiring no 
other employment than to follow him from one 
battle field to another, all over the wide world. 
But Cadmus was wiser than these earth-born 
creatures, with the dragon's fierceness in them, 
and knew better how to use their strength and 
hardihood. 

" Come ! " said he. " You are sturdy fellows. 
Make yourselves useful! Quarry some stones 
with those great swords of yours, and help me 
to build a city." 

The five soldiers grumbled a little, and mut- 
tered that it was their business to overthrow 



156 the dragon's teeth. 

cities, not to build them up. But Cadmm 
looked at them with a stern eye, and spoke to 
them in a tone of authority, so that they knew 
nim for their master, and never again thought of 
disobeying his commands. They set to work in 
good earnest, and toiled so diligently, that, in a 
very short time, a city began to make its appear- 
ance. At first, to be sure, the workmen showed 
a quarrelsome disposition. Like savage beasts, 
they would doubtless have done one another a 
mischief, if Cadmus had not kept wa^ch over 
them, and quelled the fierce old serpent that 
lurked in their hearts, when he saw it gleaming 
out of their wild eyes. But, in course of time, 
they got accustomed to honest labor, and had 
sense enough to feel that there was more true 
enjoyment in living at peace, and doing good to 
one's neighbor, than in striking at him with a 
two-edged sword. It may not be too much to 
hope that the rest of mankind will by and by 
grow as wise and peaceable as these five earth 
begrimed warriors, who sprang from the drag 
on's teeth. 

And now the city was built, and there was a 
home in it for each of the workmen. But the 



the dragon's teeth. 157 

palace of Cadmus was not yet erected, because 
they had left it till the last, meaning to introduce 
all the new improvements of architecture, and 
make it very commodious, as well as stately and 
beautiful. After finishing the rest of their labors, 
they all went to bed betimes, in order to rise in 
the gray of the morning, and get at least the 
foundation of the edifice laid before nightfall. 
But, when Cadmus arose, and took his way to- 
wards the site where the palace was to be built, 
followed by his five sturdy workmen marching 
all in a row, what do you think he saw ? 

"What should it be but the most magnificent 
palace that had ever been seen in the world. It 
was built of marble and other beautiful kinds of 
stone, and rose high into the air, with a splendid 
dome and a portico along the front, and carved 
pillars, and every thing else that befitted the 
habitation of a mighty king. It had grown up 
out of the earth in almost as short a time as it 
had taken the armed host to spring from the 
dragon's teeth ; and what made the matter more 
strange, no seed of this stately edifice had ever 
been planted. 

When the five workmen beheld the dome, with 



158 THE dragon's teeth. 

the morning sunshine making it look golden and 
glorious, they gave a great shout. 

" Long live King Cadmus," they cried, " in hi? 
beautiful palace." 

And the. new king, with his five faithful follow- 
ers at his heels, shouldering their pickaxes and 
marching in a rank, (for they still had a soldierlike 
sort of behavior, as their nature was,) ascended 
the palace steps. Halting at the entrance, they 
gazed through a long vista of lofty pillars, that 
were ranged from end to end of a great hall. At 
the farther extremity of this hall, approaching 
slowly towards him, Cadmus beheld a female 
figure, wonderfully beautiful, and adorned with 
a royal robe, and a crown of diamonds over her 
golden ringlets, and the richest necklace that 
ever a queen wore. His heart thrilled with de- 
light. He fancied it his long-lost sister Europa, 
now grown to womanhood, coming to make him 
happy, and to repay him with her sweet sisterly 
affection, for all those weary wanderings in quest 
of her since he left King Agenor's palace — for 
the tears that he had shed, on parting with 
Phoenix, and Cilix, and Thasiib — for the heart- 
breakings that had made the whole world seem 
dismal to him over his dear mother's grave. 



THE DRAGON S TEETH. L59 

But, as Cadmus advanced to meet the beauti- 
ful stranger, he saw that her features were un- 
known to him, although, in the little time that it 
required to tread along the hall, he had already 
felt a sympathy betwixt himself and her. 

" No, Cadmus," said the same voice that had 
spoken to him in the field of the armed men, 
" this is not that dear sister Europa whom you 
have sought so faithfully all over the wide world. 
This is Harmonia, a daughter of the sky, who 
is given you instead of sister, and brothers, and 
friend, and mother. You will find all those dear 
ones in her alone." 

So King Cadmus dwelt in the palace, with his 
new friend Harmonia, and found a great deal of 
comfort in his magnificent abode, but would 
doubtless have found as much, if not more, in 
the humblest cottage by the wayside. Before 
many years went by, there was a group of rosy 
little children (but how they came thither has 
always been a mystery to me) sporting in the 
great hall, and on the marble steps of the palace, 
and running joyfully to meet King Cadmus when 
affairs of state left him at leisure to play with 
them, They called him father, and Queen 



160 



Harmonia mother. The five old soldiers of the 
dragon's teeth grew very fond of these small 
urchins, and were never weary of showing them 
how to shoulder sticks, flourish wooden swords, 
and march in military order, blowing a penny 
trumpet, or beating an abominable rub-a-dub 
upon a little drum. 

But King Cadmus, lest there should be too 
much of the dragon's tooth in his children's dis- 
position, used to find time from his kingly duties 
to teach them their ABC — which he invented 
for their benefit, and for which many little peo- 
ple, I am afraid, are not half so grateful to him 
as they ought to be. 



CIRCE'S PALACE, ltJl 



CIRCE'S PALACE 



Some of you have heard, no doubt, of the wise 
King Ulysses, and how he went to the siege of 
Troy, and how, after that famous city was taken 
and burned, he spent ten long years in trying to 
get back again to his own little kingdom of 
Ithaca. At one time in the course of this weary 
voyage, he arrived at an island that looked very 
green and pleasant, but the name of which was 
unknown to him. For, only a little while before 
he came thither, he had met with a terrible hurri- 
cane, or rather a great many hurricanes at once, 
which drove his fleet of vessels into a strange part 
of the sea, where neither himself nor any of his 
mariners had ever sailed. This misfortune was 
entirely owing to the foolish curiosity of his ship- 
mates, who, while Ulysses lay asleep, had untied 
some very bulky leathern bags, in which they 
11 



16^ CIRCE'S PALACE. 

supposed a valuable treasure to be concealed 
But in each of these stout bags, King ^Eolus^ 
the ruler of the winds, had tied up a tempest, 
and had given it to Ulysses to keep, in order that 
he might be sure of a favorable passage home- 
ward to Ithaca ; and when the strings were 
loosened, forth rushed the whistling blasts, like 
air out of a blown bladder, whitening the sea 
with foam, and scattering the vessels nobody 
could tell whither. 

Immediately after escaping from this peril, a 
still greater one had befallen him. Scudding be- 
fore the hurricane, he reached a place, which, as he 
afterwards found, was called Laestrygonia, where 
some monstrous giants had eaten up many of 
his companions, and had sunk every one of his 
vessels, except that in which he himself sailed, 
by flinging great masses of rock at them, from 
the cliffs along the shore. After going through 
such troubles as these, you cannot wonder that 
King Ulysses was glad to moor his tempest- 
beaten bark in a quiet cove of the green island, 
which I began with telling you about. But he 
had encountered so many dangers from giants, 
and one-eyed Cyclopes, and monsters of the sea 



163 



and land, that he could not help dreading some 
mischief, even in this pleasant and seemingly 
solitary spot. For two days, therefore, the poor 
weather-worn voyagers kept quiet, and either 
staid on board of their vessel, or merely crept 
along under the cliffs that bordered the shore ; 
and to keep themselves alive, they dug shellfish 
out of the sand, and sought for any little rill of 
fresh water that might be running towards the sea. 
Before the two days were spent, they grew 
very weary of this kind of life ; for the followers 
of King Ulysses, as you will find it important to 
remember, were terrible gormandizers, and pretty 
sure to grumble if they missed their regular 
meals, and their irregular ones besides. Their 
stock of provisions was quite exhausted, and 
even the shellfish began to get scarce, so that 
they had now to choose between starving to 
death or venturing into the interior of the island, 
where perhaps some huge three-headed dragon, 
or other horrible monster, had his den. Such 
misshapen creatures were very numerous in those 
days ; and nobody ever expected to make a 
voyage, or take a journey, without running more 
or less risk of being devoured by them. 



164 



But King Ulysses was a bold man as \* ell as 
a prudent one; and on the third morning he 
determined to discover what sort of a place the 
island was, and whether it were possible to ob 
tain a supply of food for the hungry mouths 
of his companions. So, taking a spear in his 
hand, he clambered to the summit of a cliff, and 
gazed round about him. At a distance, towards 
the centre of the island, he beheld the stately 
towers of what seemed to be a palace, built of . 
snow-white marble, and rising in the midst of a 
grove of lofty trees. The thick branches of these 
trees stretched across the front of the edifice, and 
more than half concealed it, although, from the 
portion which he saw, Ulysses judged it to be 
spacious and exceedingly beautiful, and probably 
the residence of some great nobleman or prince. 
A blue smoke went curling up from the chimney, 
and was almost the pleasantest part of the spec- 
tacle to Ulysses. For, from the abundance of 
this smoke, it was reasonable to conclude that 
there was a good fire in the kitchen, and that, at 
dinner time, a plentiful banquet would be served 
up to the inhabitants of the palace, and to what 
eve? guests might happen to drop in. 



165 



With so agreeable a prospect before him, 
Ulysses fancied that he could not do better than 
to go straight to the palace gate, and tell the 
master of it that there was a crew of poor ship- 
wrecked mariners, not far off, who had eaten 
nothing for a day or two, save a few clams and 
oysters, and would therefore be thankful for a 
little food. And the prince or nobleman must 
be a very stingy curmudgeon, to be sure, if, at 
least, when his own dinner was over, he would 
not bid them welcome to the broken victuals 
from the table. 

Pleasing himself with this idea, King Ulysses 
had made a few steps in the direction of the 
palace, when there was a great twittering and 
chirping from the branch of a neighboring tree. 
A moment afterwards, a bird came flying to- 
wards him, and hovered in the air, so as al- 
most to brush his face with its wings. It was 
a very prettv little bird, with purple wings and 
body, and yellow legs, and a circle of golden 
feathers round its neck, and on its head a golden 
tuft, which looked like a king's crown in minia- 
ture. Ulysses tried to catch the bird. But it 
fluttered nimbly out of his reach, still chirping 



166 circb's palace. 

in a piteous tone, as if it could have told a 
lamentable story, had it only been gifted with 
human language. And when he attempted to 
drive it away, the bird flew no farther than the 
bough of the next tree, and again came fluttering 
about his head, with its doleful chirp, as soon as 
he showed a purpose of going forward. 

" Have you any thing to tell me, little bird ? " 
asked Ulysses. 

And he was ready to listen attentively to 
whatever the bird might communicate ; for, at 
the siege of Troy, and elsewhere, he had known 
such odd things to happen, that he would not 
have considered it much out of the common run 
had this little feathered creature talked as plainly 
as himself. 

" Peep ! " said the bird, " peep, peep, pe — 
weep ! " And nothing else would it say, but 
only, " Peep, peep, pe — weep ! " in a melan- 
choly cadence, and over and over and over 
again. As often as Ulysses moved forward, 
however, the bird showed the greatest alarm, and 
did its best to drive him back, with the anxious 
flutter of its purple wings. Its unaccountable 
behavior made him conclude, at last, that the 



16? 



bird knew of some danger that awaited him, and 
which must needs be very terrible, beyond all 
question, since it moved even a little fowl to 
feel compassion for a human being. So he re- 
solved, for the present, to return to the vessel, 
and tell his companions what he had seen. 

This appeared to satisfy the bird. As soon 
as Ulysses turned back, it ran up the trunk of a 
tree, and began to pick insects out of the bark 
with its long, sharp bill; for it was a kind of 
woodpecker, you must know, and had to get its 
living in the same manner as other birds of that 
species. But every little while, as it pecked at 
the bark of the tree, the purple bird bethought 
itself of some secret sorrow, and repeated its 
plaintive note of " Peep, peep, pe — weep ! " 

On his way to the shore, Ulysses had the good 
luck to kill a large stag by thrusting his speai 
into its back. Taking it on his shoulders, (foi 
he was a remarkably strong man,) he lugged it 
along with him, and flung it down before his 
hungry companions. I have already hinted to 
you what gormandizers some of the comrades 
of King Ulysses were. From what is related 
oi them, I reckon that their favorite diet was 



168 



pork and that they had lived upon it until a 
good part of their physical substance was swine's 
flesh, and their tempers and dispositions were 
very much akin to the hog. A dish of venison, 
however, was no unacceptable meal to them, 
especially after feeding so long on oysters and 
clams. So, beholding the dead stag, they felt 
of its ribs, in a knowing way, and lost no time 
in kindling a fire, of driftwood, to cook it. The 
rest of the day was spent in feasting ; and if 
these enormous eaters got up from table at sun- 
set, it was only because they could not scrape 
another morsel off the poor animal's bones. 

The next morning, their appetites were as 
sharp as ever. They looked at Ulysses, as if 
they expected him to clamber up the cliff again, 
and come back with another fat deer upon his 
shoulders. Instead of setting out, however, he 
summoned the whole crew together, and told 
them it was in vain to hope that he could kill a 
stag every day for their dinner, and therefore it 
was advisable to think of some other mode of 
satisfying their hunger. 

" Now," said he, " when I was on the cliff, 
yesterday, I discovered that this island is inhab- 



circe's palace. 169 

itecl. At a considerable distance from the shore 
stood a marble palace, which appeared to be 
very spacious, and had a great deal of* smoke 
curling out of one of its chimneys." 

"Aha!" muttered some of his companions, 
smacking their lips. " That smoke must have 
come from the kitchen fire. There was a good 
dinner on the spit; and no doubt there will be 
as good a one to-day." 

" But," continued the wise Ulysses, " you must 
remember, my good friends, our misadventure in 
the cavern of one-eyed Polyphemus, the Cyclops ! 
Instead of his ordinary milk diet, did he not eat 
up two of our comrades for his supper, and a 
couple more for breakfast, and two at his supper 
again ? Methinks I see him yet, the hideous 
monster, scanning us with that great red eye, in 
the middle of his forehead, to single out the fat- 
test. And then, again, only a few days ago, 
did we not fall into the hands of the king of the 
Laestrygons, and those other horrible giants, his 
subjects, who devoured a great many more of us 
than are now left ? To tell you the truth, if we 
go to yonder palace, there can be no question 
that we shall make our appearance at the dinner 



170 circus palace, 

table; but whether seated as guests, 01 served 
ap as food, is a point to be seriously considered." 

" Either way," murmured some of the hun- 
griest of the crew, " it will be better than starva- 
tion ; particularly if one could be sure of being 
well fattened beforehand, and daintily cooked 
afterwards." 

" That is a matter of taste," said King Ulys- 
ses, " and, for my own part, neither the most 
careful fattening nor the daintiest of cookery 
would reconcile me to being dished at last. My 
proposal is, therefore, that we divide ourselves 
into two equal parties, and ascertain, by draw- 
ing lots, which of the two shall go to the palace, 
and beg for food and assistance. If these can 
oe obtained, all is well. If not, and if the in- 
nabitants prove as inhospitable as Polyphemus, 
or the Laestrygons, then there will but half of 
us perish, and the remainder may set sail and 
escape." 

As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses 
proceeded to count the whole band, and found 
that there were forty-six men, including himself. 
He then numbered off twenty-two of them, and 
put Eurylochus (who was one of his chief offi- 



171 



cera, and second only to himself in sagacity) at 
their head. Ulysses took command of the re- 
maining twenty-two men, in person. Then, tak- 
ing off his helmet, he put two shells into it, on 
one of which was written, " Go," and on the 
other, " Stay." Another person now held the 
helmet, while Ulysses and Eurylochus drew out 
each a shell; and the word " Go" was found 
written on that which Eurylochus had drawn. 
In this manner, it was decided that Ulysses and 
his twenty-two men were to remain at the sea- 
side until the other party should have found out 
what sort of treatment they might expect at the. 
mysterious palace. As there was no help for it, 
Eurylochus immediately set forth at the head of 
his twenty-two followers, who went off in a very 
melancholy state of mind, leaving their friends 
in hardly better spirits than themselves. 

No sooner had they clambered up the cliff, than 
they discerned the tall marble towers of the 
palace, ascending, as white as snow, out of the 
lovely green shadow of the trees which sur- 
rounded it. A gush of smoke came from a chim- 
ney in the rear of the edifice. This vapor rose 
high in the air, and, meeting with a breeze, was 



172 ©irce's palace. 

wafted seaward, and made to pass over the heada 
of the hungry mariners. When people's appe- 
tites are keen, they have a very quick scent for 
any thing savory in the wind. 

" That smoke comes from the kitchen ! " cried 
one of them, turning up his nose as high as he~ 
could, and snuffing eagerly. " And, as sure as 
I'm a half-starved vagabond, I smell roast meat 
in it." 

" Pig, roast pig ! " said another. " Ah, the 
dainty little porker ! My mouth waters for 
him." 

" Let us make haste," cried the others, " or we 
shall be too late for the good cheer ! " 

But scarcely had they made half a dozen steps 
from the edge of the cliff, when a bird came flut- 
tering to meet them. It was the same pretty 
little bird, with the purple wings and body, the 
yellow legs, the golden collar round its neck, and 
the crown-like tuft upon its head, whose behavior 
had so much surprised Ulysses. It hovered 
about Eurylochus, and almost brushed his face 
with its wings. 

" Peep, peep, pe — weep!" chirped the bird. 

So plaintively intelligent was the sound, tha 



173 



it seemed as if the little creature were going to 
break its heart with some mighty secret that it 
had to tell, and only this one poor note to tell 
it with. 

" My pretty bird," said Eurylochu^, — for he 
was a wary person, and let no token of harm es- 
cape his notice, — " my pretty bird, who sent you 
hither ? And what is the message which you 
bring?" 

"Peep, peep, pe — weep!" replied the bird, 
very sorrowfully. 

Then it flew towards the edge of the cliff, 
and looked round at them, as if exceedingly 
anxious that they should return whence they 
came. Eurylochus and a few of the others were 
inclined to turn back. They could not help sus- 
pecting that the purple bird must be aware of 
something mischievous that would befall them 
at the palace, and the knowledge of which af- 
fected its airy spirit with a human sympathy and 
sorrow. But the rest of the voyagers, snuffing 
up the smoke from the palace kitchen, ridiculed 
the idea of returning to the vessel. One of them 
(more brutal than his fellows, and the most no- 
torious gormandizer in the whole crew) said suck 



174 CIRCE'S PAL ACE. 

a cruel and wicked thing, that I wonder the mere 
thought did not turn him into a wild beast in 
shape, as h° already was in his nature. 

" This troublesome and impertinent little fowl," 
said he, " would make a delicate titbit to begin 
dinner with. Just one plump morsel, melting 
away between the teeth. If he comes within 
my reach, I'll catch him, and give him to the 
palace cook to be roasted on a skewer." 

The words were hardly out of his mouth, be 
lore the purple bird flew away, crying, " Peep, 
peep, pe — weep," more dolorously than ever. 

" That bird," remarked Eurylochus, " knows 
more than we do about what awaits us at the 
palace." 

" Come on, then," cried his comrades, " and 
we'll soon know as much as he does." 

The party, accordingly, went onward through 
the green and pleasant wood. Every little while 
they caught new glimpses of the marble pal- 
ace, which looked more and more beautiful the 
nearer they approached it. They soon entered 
a broad pathway, which seemed to be very neat- 
ly kept, and which went winding along, with 
streaks of sunshine falling across it, and specks 



cmcfi's PALACE. 173 

of light quivering among the deepest shadows 
that fell from the lofty trees. It was bordered, 
too, with a great many sweet-smelling flowers, 
such as the mariners had never seen before. Sc 
rich and beautiful they were, that, if the shrubs 
grew wild here, and were native in the soil, then 
this island was surely the flower garden of the 
whole earth ; or, if transplanted from some other 
clime, it must have been from the Happy Islands 
that lay towards the golden sunset. 

" There has been a great deal of pains foolish- 
ly wasted on these flowers," observed one of the 
company ; and I tell you what he said, that you 
may keep in mind what gormandizers they were. 
" For my part, if I were the owner of the palace, 
I would bid my gardener cultivate nothing but 
savory pot herbs to make a stuffing for roast 
meat, or to flavor a stew with." 

" Well said ! " cried the others. " But I'll war- 
rant you there's a kitchen garden in the rear of 
the palace." 

At one place they came to a crystal spring, 
and paused to drink at it for want of liquor, 
which they liked better. Looking into its bosom, 
they beheld their own faces dimly reflected, but 



176 CJRCE r S FA LACE. 

bo extravagantly distorted by the gush and mo- 
tion of the water, that each one of them appeared 
to be laughing at himself and all his companions. 
So ridiculous were these images of themselves, 
indeed, that they did really laugh aloud, and 
could hardly be grave again as soon as they 
wished. And after they had drank, they grew 
still merrier than before. 

" It has a twang of the wine cask in it," said 
one, smacking his lips. 

" Make haste!" cried his fellows; "we'll find 
the wine cask itself at the palace ; and that wili 
be better than a hundred crystal fountains." 

Then they quickened their pace, and capered 
for joy at the thought of the savory banquet at 
which they hoped to be guests. But Eurylochus 
told them that he felt as if he were walking in a 
dream. 

" If I am really awake," continued he, " then, 
in my opinion, we are on the point of meeting 
with some stranger adventure than any that 
befell us in the cave of Polyphemus, or among 
the gigantic man-eating Lasstrygons, or in the 
windy palace of King iEolus, which stand? on a 
brazen-walled island This kind of dreamy feel- 



circe's palace. 177 

h,g always comes over me before any wonderful 
occurrence. If you take my advice, you will turn 
back." 

" No, no," answered his comrades, snuffing the 
air, in which the scent from the palace kitchen 
was now very perceptible. " We would not 
turn back, though we were certain that the king 
of the Lastrygons, as big as a mountain, would 
sit at the head of the table, and huge Polyphe- 
mus, the one-eyed Cyclops, at its foot." 

At length they came within full sight of the 
palace, which proved to be very large and lofty, 
with a great number of airy pinnacles upon its 
roof. Though it was now midday, and the sun 
shone brightly over the marble front, yet its 
snowy whiteness, and its fantastic style of archi- 
tecture, made it look unreal, like the frostwork 
on a window pane, or like the shapes of castks 
which one sees among the clouds by moonlight. 
But, just then, a puff of wind brought down the 
smoke of the kitchen chimney among them, 
and caused each man to smell the odor of the 
dish that he liked best; and, after scenting it, 
they thought every thing else moonshine, and 
nothing real save this palace, and save the 
12 



178 circe's palace. 

banquet that was evidently ready to be Berved 
up in it. 

So they hastened their steps towards the portal, 
but had not got half way across the wide lawn, 
when a pack of lions, tigers, and wolves came 
bounding to meet them. The terrified mariners 
started back, expecting , no better fate than to be 
torn to pieces and devoured. To their surprise 
and joy, however, these wild beasts merely ca- 
pered around them, wagging their tails, offering 
their heads to be stroked and patted, and be- 
having just like so many well-bred house dogs, 
when they wish to express their delight at meet- 
ing their master, or their master's friends. The 
biggest lion licked the feet of Eurylochus ; and 
every other lion, and every wolf and tiger, singled 
out one of his two and twenty followers, whom 
the beast fondled as if he loved him better than 
a beef bone. 

But, for all that, Eurylochus imagined that he 
saw something fierce and savage in their eyes; 
nor would he have been surprised, at any mo- 
ment, to feel the big lion's terrible claws, or to 
see each of the tigers make a deadly spring, or 
each wolf leap at the throat of the man whom 



CIRCE'S PALACE. 179 

he had fondled. Their mildness seemed an- 
rea., and a mere freak ; but their savage nature 
was as true as their teeth and claws. 

Nevertheless, the men went safely across the 
lawn with the wild beasts frisking about' them, 
and doing no manner of harm ; although, as 
they mounted the steps of the palace, you might 
possibly have heard a low growl, particularly 
from the wolves ; as if they thought it a pity, 
after all, to let the strangers pass without so 
much as tasting what they were made of. 

Eurylochus and his followers now passed un- 
der a lofty portal, and looked through the open 
doorway into the interior of the palace. The 
first thing that they saw was a spacious hall, 
and a fountain in the middle of it, gushing 
up towards the ceiling out of a marble basin, 
and falling back into it with a continual plash. 
The water of this fountain, as it spouted up- 
ward, was constantly taking new shapes, not very 
distinctly, but plainly enough for a nimble fancy 
to recognize what they were. Now it was the 
shape of a man in a long robe, the fleecy white- 
ness of which was made out of the fountain's 
sprav ; now it was a lion, or a tiger, or a wolf 



180 



or an ass, or, as often as any thing else, a hog 
wallowing in the marble basin as if it were his 
sty. It was either magic or some very curious 
machinery that caused the gushing waterspout 
to assume all these forms. But, before the 
strangers had time to look closely at this won- 
derful sight, their attention was drawn off by a 
very sweet and agreeable sound. A woman's 
voice Vas singing melodiously in another room 
of the palace, and with her voice was mingled 
the noise of a loom, at which she was probably 
seated, weaving a rich texture of cloth, and in- 
tertwining the high and low sweetness of her 
voice into a rich tissue of harmony. 

By and by, the song came to an end ; and 
then, all at once, there were several feminine 
voices, talking airily and cheerfully, with now 
and then a merry burst of laughter, such as you 
may always hear when three or four young 
women sit at work together. 

" What a sweet song that was ! " exclaimed 
one of the voyagers. 

" Too sweet, indeed," answered Eurylochua, 
shaking his head. " Yet it was not so sweet 
as the song of the Sirens, those bird-like damsels 



circe's palace. 181 

who wanted to tempt us on the rocks, so that 
our vessel might be wrecked, and our bones left 
whitening along the shore." 

" But just listen to the pleasant voices of those 
maidens, and that buzz of the loom, as the shut- 
tle passes to and fro," said another comrade 
" What a domestic, household, home-like sound 
it is ! Ah, before that weary siege of Troy, 1 
used to hear the buzzing loom and the women's 
voices under my own roof. Shall I never hear 
them again? nor taste those nice little savory 
dishes which my dearest wife knew how to 
serve up ? " 

" Tush ! we shall fare better here," said anoth- 
er. " But how innocently those women are bab- 
bling together, without guessing that we over- 
hear them ! And mark that richest voice of all, 
so pleasant and familiar, but which yet seems to 
have the authority of a mistress among them. 
Let us show ourselves at once. What harm 
can the lady of the palace and her maidens do 
to mariners and warriors like us ? " 

" Remember," said Eurylochus, " that it was 
a young maiden who beguiled three of our friends 
into the palace of the king of the Lacs try gons. 



182 circe's palace. _ 

who ate up one of them in the twinkling of 
an eye." 

No warning or persuasion, however, had any 
effect on his companions. They went up to a 
pair of folding doors at the farther end of the 
hall, and throwing them wide open, passed into 
the next room. Eurylochus, meanwhile, had 
stepped behind a pillar. In the short moment 
while the folding doors opened and closed again, 
he caught a glimpse of a very beautiful woman 
rising from the loom, and coming to meet the 
poor weather-beaten wanderers, with a hospita- 
ble smilr and her hand stretched out in welcome. 
There were four other young women, who joined 
their hands and danced merrily forward, making 
gestures of obeisance to the strangers. They 
were only less beautiful than the lady who 
seemed to be their mistress. Yet Eurylochus 
fancied that one of them had sea-green hair, and 
that the close-fitting bodice of a second looked 
like the bark of a tree, and that both the others 
had something odd in their aspect, although he 
could not quite determine what it was, in the 
little while that he had to examine them. 

The folding doors swung quickly back, and 



OIRC£ r S i'ALAOE* 18*3 

left him standing behind the pillar, in the soli« 
tude of the outer hall. There Eurylochus waited 
until he was quite weary, and listened eagerly 
to every sound, but without hearing any thing 
that could help him to guess what had become 
of his friends. Footsteps, it is true, seemed to 
be passing and repassing, in other parts of the 
palace. Then there was a clatter of silver dishes, 
or golden ones, which made him imagine a rich 
feast in a splendid banqueting hall. But by and 
by he heard a tremendous grunting and squeal- 
ing, and then a sudden scampering, like that of 
small, hard hoofs over a marble floor, while the 
voices of the mistress and her four handmaidens 
were screaming all together, in tones of anger 
and derision. Eurylochus could not conceive 
what had happened, unless a drove of swine had 
broken into the palace, attracted by the smell of 
the feast. Chancing to cast his eyes at the 
fountain, he saw that it did not shift its shape, as 
formerly, nor looked either like a long-robed man, 
or a lion, a tiger, a wolf, or an ass. It looked like 
nothing but a hog, which lay wallowing in the 
marble basin, and filled it from brim to brim. 
P>ut we must leave the prudent Etirylochua 



184 circe's palace 

waiting in the outer hall, and follow his friends 
into the inner secrecy of the palace. As soon as 
the beautiful woman saw them, she arose from 
the loom, as I have told you, and came forward, 
smiling, and stretching out her hand. She took 
the hand of the foremost among them, and bade 
him and the whole party welcome. 

" You have been long expected, my good 
friends," said she. " I and my maidens are 
well acquainted with you, although you do not 
appear to recognize us. Look at this piece of 
tapestry, and judge if your faces must not have 
been familiar to us." 

So the voyagers examined the web of cloth 
which the beautiful woman had been weaving 
in her loom ; and, to their vast astonishment, 
they saw their own figures perfectly represented 
in different colored threads. It was a life-like 
picture of their recent adventures, showing 
them in the cave of Polyphemus, and how they 
had put out his one great moony eye : while in 
another part of the tapestry they were untying 
the leathern bags, puffed out with contrary 
winds ; and farther on, they beheld themselves 
Rcamperino away from the gigantic king of the 



CIRCE S PALACE 



18f 



Laestrygons, who had caught one of them by the 
leg. Lastly, there they were, sitting on the deso- 
late shore of this very island, hungry and down- 
cast, and looking ruefully at the bare bones of 
the stag which they devoured yesterday. This 
was as far as the work had yet proceeded ; but 
when the beautiful woman should again sit 
down at her loom, she would probably make a 
picture of what had since happened to the stran- 
gers, and of what was now going to happen. 

" You see," she said, " that I know all about 
your troubles ; and you cannot doubt that I de- 
sire to make you happy for as long a time as 
you may remain with me. For this purpose, my 
honored guests, I have ordered a banquet to be 
prepared. Fish, fowl, and flesh, roasted, and in 
luscious stews, and seasoned, J trust, to all your 
tastes, are ready to be served up. If your appe- 
tites tell you it is dinner tim**, then come with 
me to the festal saloon." 

At this kind invitation, the hungry mariners 
were quite overjoyed ; and one of them, taking 
upon himself to be spokesman, assured their 
hospitable hostess that any hour of the day was 
dinner time with them, whenever they could get 



186 



flesh to put in the pot, and fire to boil it with. 
So the beautiful woman led the way; and the 
four maidens, (one of them had sea-green hair, 
another a bodice of oak bark, a third sprinkled a 
shower of water drops from her fingers' ends, and 
the fourth had some other oddity, which I have 
forgotten,) all these followed behind, and hurried 
the guests along, until they entered a magnifi- 
cent saloon. It was built in a perfect oval, and 
lighted from a crystal dome above. Around the 
walls were ranged two and twenty thrones, over- 
hung by canopies of crimson and gold, and pro- 
vided with the softest of cushions, which were 
tasselled and fringed with gold cord. Each of 
the strangers was invited to sit down ; and there 
they were, two and twenty storm-beaten mari- 
ners, in worn and tattered garb, sitting on two 
and twenty cushioned and canopied thrones, so 
rich and gorgeous that the proudest monarch 
had nothing more splendid in his stateliest hall. 

Then you might have seen the guests nodding, 
winking with one eye, and leaning from one 
throne to another, to communicate their satis- 
faction in hoarse whispers. 

" Our good hostess has made kings of us all," 



CIRCUS PALACE. 18? 

said one. "Ha! do you smell the feast? FD 
engage it will be fit to set before two and twenty 
kings." 

" I hope," said another, " it will be, mainly, 
good substantial joints, surloins, spareribs, and 
hinder quarters, without too many kickshaws. If 
I thought the good lady would not take it amiss, 
I should call for a fat slice of fried bacon to 
begin with." 

Ah, the gluttons and gormandizers ! You see 
how it was with them. In the loftiest seats of 
dignity, on royal thrones, they could think of 
nothing but their greedy appetite, which was the 
portion of their nature that they shared with 
wolves and swine ; so that they resembled those 
vilest of animals far more than they did kings — 
if, indeed, kings were what they ought to be. 

But the beautiful woman now clapped her 
hamfs; and immediately there entered a train 
of two and twenty serving men, bringing dishes 
of the richest food, all hot from the kitchen fire, 
and sending up such a steam that it hung like a 
cloud below the crystal dome of the saloon. An 
equal number of attendants brought great flag- 
ons of wine, of various kinds, some of which 



188 



sparkled as it was poured out, and went bab- 
bling down the throat ; while, of other sorts, the 
purple liquor was so clear that you could see the 
wrought figures at the bottom of the goblet 
While the servants supplied the two and twenty 
guests with food and drink, the hostess and her 
four maidens went from one throne to another, 
exhorting them to eat their fill, and to quaff wine 
abundantly, and thus to recompense themselves, 
at this one banquet, for the many days when 
they had gone without a dinner. But, whenever 
the mariners were not looking at them, (which 
was pretty often, as they looked chiefly into the 
basins and platters,) the beautiful woman and 
her damsels turned aside, and laughed. Even 
the servants, as they knelt down to present the 
dishes, might be seen to grin and sneer, while 
the guests were helping themselves to the offered 
dainties. 

And, once in a while, the strangers seemed to 
taste something that they did not like. 

" Here is an odd kind of a spice in this dish," 
said one. " I can't say it quite suits my palate. 
Down it goes, however." 

" Send a good draught of wine down your 



C1RCF/S PALACE. 189 

throat," said his comrade on the next throne. 
" That is the stuff to make this sort of cookery 
relish well. Though I must needs say, the wine 
has a queer taste too. But the more I drink of 
it, the better I like the flavor." 

Whatever little fault they might find with the 
dishes, they sat at dinner a prodigiously long 
while ; and it would really have made you 
ashamed to see how they swilled down the 
liquor and gobbled up the food. They sat on 
golden thrones, to be sure ; but they behaved 
like pigs in a sty ; and, if they had had their 
wits about them, they might have guessed that 
this was the opinion of their beautiful hostess 
and her maidens. It brings a blush into my 
face to reckon up, in my own mind, what. moun- 
tains of meat and pudding, and what gallons 
of wine, these two and twenty guzzlers and gor- 
mandizers ate and drank. They forgot all about, 
their homes, and their wives and children, and 
all about Ulysses, and every thing else, except this 
banquet, at which they wanted to keep feast- 
ing forever. But at length they began to give 
over, from mere incapacity to nold any more, 

" That last bit of fat is too much for me," 
#aid one, 



u -0 cikce's palace. 

" And 1 have not room for another morsel ," 
said his next neighbor, heaving a sigh. " What 
a pity! My appetite is as sharp as ever." 

In short, they all left off eating, and leaned 
back on their thrones, with such a stupid and 
helpless aspect as made them ridiculous to be- 
hold. When their hostess saw this, she laughed 
aloud ; so did her four damsels ; so did the two and 
twenty serving men that bore the dishes, and their 
two and twenty fellows that poured out the wine. 
And the louder they all laughed, the more stupid 
and helpless did the two and twenty gormandizers 
look. Then the beautiful woman took her stand 
in the middle of the saloon, and stretching out a 
slender rod, (it had been all the while in her hand, 
although they never noticed it till this moment,) 
she turned it from one guest to another, until 
each had felt it pointed at himself. Beautiful 
as her face was, and though there was a TOTiile 
on it, it looked just as wicked and mischievous 
as the ugliest serpent that ever was seen ; and 
fat-witted as the voyagers had made themselves, 
they began to suspect that they had fallen into 
the power of an evil-minded enchantress. 

" Wretches," cried she, u you have abused a 



cirje's palace. 191 

lady's hospitality; and in this princely saloon 
your behavior has been suited to a hogpen. 
You are already swine in every thing but the hu- 
man form, which you disgrace, and which I my- 
self should be ashamed to keep a moment longer, 
were you to share it with me. But it will require 
only the slightest exercise of magic to make the 
exterior conform to the hoggish disposition. As- 
sume your proper shapes, gormandizers, and 
begone to the sty!" 

Uttering these last words, she waved her wand ; 
and stamping her foot imperiously, each of the 
guests was struck aghast at beholding, instead 
of his comrades in human shape, one and twenty 
hogs sitting on the same number of golden 
thrones. Each man (as he still supposed him- 
self to be) essayed to give a cry of surprise, but 
found that he could merely grunt, and that, in a 
word, he was just such another beast as his com- 
panions. It looked so intolerably absurd to see 
hogs on cushioned thrones, that they made haste 
to wallow down upon all fours, like other swine. 
They tried to groan and Ifeg for mercy, but 
forthwith emitted the most awful grunting and 
squealing that ever jame out of swinish throats 



192 circe'sl palace. 

They would have wrung their hands in despair, 
but, attempting to do so, grew all the more 
desperate for seeing themselves squatted 01: then 
hams, and pawing the air with their fore trotters. 
Dear me ! what pendulous ears they had ! what 
little red eyes, half buried in fat! and what long 
snouts, instead of Grecian noses ! 

But brutes as they certainly were, they yet 
had enough of human nature in them to be 
shocked at their own hideousness ; and, still in- 
tending to groan, they uttered a viler grunt and 
squeal than before. So harsh and ear-piercing 
it was, that you would have fancied a butcher 
was sticking his knife into each of their throats, 
or, at the very least, that somebody was pulling 
svery hog by his funny little twist of a tail. 

A Begone to your sty ! " cried the enchantress, 
giving them some smart strokes with her wand ; 
and then she turned to the serving men — " Drive 
out these swine, and throw down some acorns 
for them to eat." 

The door of the saloon being flung open, the 
drove of hogs ran ifl all directions save the right 
one, in accordance with their hoggish perversity, 
but were finally driven into the back yard of the 



193 



palace. It was a sight to bring tears into one's 
eyes, (and I hope none of you will be cruel 
enough to laugh at it,) to see the poor creatures 
go snuffing along, picking up here a cabbage leaf 
and there a turnip top, and rooting their nose3 
in the earth for whatever they could find. In 
their sty, moreover, they behaved more piggishly 
than the pigs that had been born so : for they 
bit and snorted at one another, put their feet in 
the trough, and gobbled up their victuals in a 
ridiculous hurry; and, when there was nothing 
more to be had, they made a great pile of them- 
selves among some unclean straw, and fell fast 
asleep. If they had any human reason left, it 
was just enough to keep them wondering when 
they should be slaughtered, and what quality of 
bacon they should make. 

Meantime, as I told you before, Eurylochus 
had waited, and waited, and waited, in the en- 
trance hall of the palace, without being able to 
comprehend what had befallen his friends. At 
last, when the swinish uproar resounded through 
the palace, and when he saw the image of a hog 
in the marble basin, he thought it best to hasten 
back to the vessel, and inform the wise Ulysses 
13 



194 CIRCE S PALACT5. 

of these marvellous occurrences So he ran as 
fast as £e could down the steps, and nevei 
stopped to draw breath till he reached the shore. 

" Why do you come alone ? " asked King 
Ulysses, as soon as he saw him. " Where are 
your two and twenty comrades ? " 

At these questions, Eurylochus burst into 
tears. 

" Alas ! " cried he, " I greatly fear that we shall 
never see one of their faces again." 

Then he told Ulysses all that had happened, as 
far as he knew it, and added that he suspected the 
beautiful woman to be a vile enchantress, and 
the marble palace, magnificent as it looked, to 
be only a dismal cavern in reality. As for his 
companions, he could not imagine what had 
become of them, unless they had been given to 
the swine to be devoured alive. At this intelli- 
gence, all the voyagers were greatly affrighted. 
But Ulysses lost no time in girding on his 
sword, and hanging his bow and quiver over his 
shoulders, and taking a spear in his right hand. 
When his followers saw their wise leader mak- 
ing these preparations, they inquired whither he 
was going, and earnestly besought him not to 
leave them. 



CIRCE'S PALACE. 195 

1 You are our king," cried they ; " and what 
is more, you are the wisest man in the whole 
world, and nothing but your wisdom and courage 
can get us out of this danger. If you desert us, 
and go to the enchanted palace, you will suffer 
the same fate as our poor companions, and not a 
soul of us will ever see our dear Ithaca again." 

" As I am your king," answered Ulysses, " and 
wiser than any of you, it is therefore the more 
my duty to see what has befallen our comrades, 
and whether any thing can yet be done to rescue 
them. Wait for me here until to-morrow. If 1 
do not then return, you must hoist sail, and en- 
deavor to find your way to our native land. Foi 
my part, I am answerable for the fate of these 
poor mariners, who have stood by my side in 
cattle, and been so often drenched to the skin, 
along with me, by the same tempestuous surges. 
I will either bring them back with me, or 
perish." 

Had his followers dared, they would have 
detained him by force. But King Ulysses 
frowned sternly on them, and shook his spear, 
and bade them stop him at their peril. Seeing 
him so determined, they let him go> and sat 



196 circe's palace. 

down on the sand, as disconsolate a set of peo- 
ple as could be, waiting and praying for his 
return. 

It happened to Ulysses, just as before, that, 
when he had gone a few steps from the edge of 
the cliff, the purple bird came fluttering towards 
him, crying, " Peep, peep, pe — weep ! " and using 
all the art it could to persuade him to go no 
farther. 

" What mean you, little bird ? " cried Ulysses. 
u You are arrayed like a king in purple and gold, 
and wear a golden crown upon your head. Is it 
because I too am a king, that you desire so ear- 
nestly to speak with me ? If you can talk in 
human language, say what you would have 
me do." 

" Peep ! " answered the purple bird, very dolo- 
rously. " Peep, peep, pe — we — ep ! " 

Certainly there lay some heavy anguish at the 
little bird's heart ; and it was a sorrowful pre- 
dicament that he could not, at l^ast, have the 
consolation of telling what it was. But Ulysses 
had no time to waste in trying to get at the mys- 
tery. He therefore quickened his pace, and had 
gone a good way along the pleasant wood path 



cjroe's palace. 



197 



when there met him a young man of very brisk 
and intelligent aspect, and clad in a rather sin- 
gular garb. He wore a short cloak, and a sort 
of cap that seemed to be furnished with a pair 
of wings ; and from the lightness of his step, 
you would have supposed that there might like- 
wise be wings on his feet. To enable him to 
walk still better, (for he was always on one jour- 
ney or another,) he carried a winged staff, around 
which two serpents were wriggling and twisting. 
In short, I have said enough to make you guess 
that it was Quicksilver ; and Ulysses (who knew 
him of old, and had learned a great deal of his 
wisdom from him) recognized him in a moment. 

" Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise 
Ulysses ? " asked Quicksilver. " Do you not know 
that this island is enchanted ? The wicked en- 
chantress (whose name is Circe, the sister of King 
/Eetes) dwells in the marble palace which you 
tee yonder among the trees. By her magic arts, 
she changes every human being into the brute 
beast or fowl whom he happens most to re- 
semble." 

" That little bird, which met me at the edge 
of the cliff,", exclaimed Ulysses : " was he a 
human being once?" 



198 Circes palace. 

u Yes," answered Quicksilver. " He was once 
a king, named Picus, and a pretty good sort of a 
king too, only rather too proud of his purple 
robe, and his crown, and the golden chain about 
his neck ; so he was forced to take the shape of 
a gaudy-feathered bird. The lions, and wolves, 
and tigers, who will come running to meet you, 
in front of the palace, were formerly fierce and 
cruel men, resembling in their dispositions the 
wild beasts whose forms they now rightfully 
wear." 

" And my poor companions," said Ulysses. 
' Have they undergone a similar change, through 
the arts of this wicked Circe ? " 

" You well know what gormandizers they 
were," replied Quicksilver; and rogue that he 
was, he could not help laughing at the joke. 
M So you will not be surprised to hear that they 
have all taken the shapes of swine ! If Circe 
had never done any thing worse, I really should 
not think her so very much to blame." 

" But can I do nothing to help them ? " in- 
quired Ulysses. 

" It will require all your wisdom," said Quick' 
silver, " and a little of my own into the bargain, 



CIRCE S PALACE. 



199 



to ke^p your royal and sagacious self from being 
transformed into a fox. But do as I bid you ; 
and 4 he matter may end better than it has 
begun. 2 ' 

While he was speaking, Quicksilver seemed 
to be in search of something ; he went stooping 
along the ground, and soon laid his hand on a 
little plant with a snow-white flower, which he 
plucked and smelt of. Ulysses had been look- 
ing at that very spot only just before ; and it 
appeared to him that the plant had burst into 
full flower the instant when Quicksilver touched 
it with his fingers. 

" Take this flower, King Ulysses," said he 
u Guard it as you do your eyesight ; for I can 
assure you it is exceedingly rare and precious, 
and you might seek the whole earth over with- 
out ever finding another like it. Keep it in your 
hand, and smell of it frequently after you enter 
the palace, and while you are talking with the 
enchantress. Especially when she offers you 
food, or a draught of wine out of her goblet, be 
careful to fill your nostrils with the flower's fra- 
grance. Follow these directions, and you may 
defy her magic arts to change you into a fox/ 



200 circe's palace. 

Quicksilver then gave him some further advice 
how to behave, and bidding him be bold and 
prudent, again assured him that, powerful as 
Circe was, he would have a fair prospect of 
coming safely out of her enchanted palace. Af- 
ter listening attentively, Ulysses thanked his 
good friend, and resumed his way. But he had 
taken only a few steps, when, recollecting some 
other questions which he wished to ask, he turned 
round again, and beheld nobody on the spot 
where Quicksilver had stood ; for that winged 
cap of his, and those winged shoes, with the help 
of the winged staff, had carried him quickly out 
of sight. 

When Ulysses reached the lawn, in front of 
the palace, the lions and other savage animals 
came bounding to meet him, and would have 
fawned upon him and licked his feet. But the 
wise kinsr struck at them with his long spear, 
and sternly bade them begone out of his path; 
for he knew that they had once been bloodthirsty 
men, and would now tear him limb from limb, 
instead of fawning upon him, could they do the 
mischief that was in their hearts. The wild 
beasts yelped and glared at him, and stood 



circe's palace. 201 

at a distance, while he ascended the palace 
steps. 

On entering the hall, Ulysses saw the magic 
fountain in the centre of it. The up-gushing 
water had now again taken the shape of a man 
in a long, white, fleecy robe, who appeared to be 
making gestures of welcome. The king like- 
wise heard the noise of the shuttle in the loom, 
and the sweet melody of the beautiful woman's 
song, and then the pleasant voices of herself and 
the four maidens talking together, with peals of 
merry laughter intermixed. But Ulysses did not 
waste much time in listening to the laughter or 
the song. He leaned his spear against one of the 
pillars of the hall, and then, after loosening his 
sword in the scabbard, stepped boldly forward, 
and threw the folding doors wide open. The 
moment she beheld his stately figure standing 
in the doorway, the beautiful woman rose from 
the loom, and ran to meet him with a glad smilo 
throwing its sunshine over her face, and both hei 
hands extended. 

" Welcome, brave stranger ! " cried she. " We 
were expecting you." 

And the nymph with the sea-green hair mads 



202 CIRCE'S PALACE. 

a courtesy down to the ground, and likewise 
bade him welcome ; so did her sister with the 
bodice of oaken bark, and she that sprinkled dew- 
drops from her fingers' ends, and the fourth one 
with some oddity which I cannot remember. 
And Circe, as the beautiful enchantress was 
called, (who had deluded so many persons that 
she did not doubt of being able to delude Ulys- 
ses, not imagining how wise he was,) again 
addressed him : — 

" Your companions," said she, " have already 
been received into my palace, and have enjoyed 
the hospitable treatment to which the propriety 
of their behavior so well entitles them. If such 
be your pleasure, you shall first take some refresh- 
ment, and then join them in the elegant apart- 
ment which they now occupy. See, I and my 
maidens have been weaving their figures into 
this piece of tapestry." 

She pointed to the web of beautifully-woven 
cloth in the loom. Circe and the four nymphs 
must have been very diligently at work since the 
arrival of the mariners ; for a great many yards 
of tapestry had now been wrought, in addition 
to what T before described. In this new part. 



203 



Ulysses saw his two and twenty friends rep- 
resented as sitting on cushioned and canopied 
thrones, greedily devouring dainties, and quaffing 
deep draughts of wine. The work had not yet 
gone any further. O, no, indeed. The enchan 
tress was far too cunning to let Ulysses see the 
mischief which her magic arts had since brought 
upon the gormanlizers. 

" As for yourself, valiant sir," said Circe, 
"judging by the dignity of your aspect, I take 
you to be nothing less than a king. Deign to 
follow me, and you shall be treated as befit* 
your rank." 

So Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon, 
where his two and twenty comrades had de- 
voured the banquet, which ended so disastrously 
for themselves. But, all this while, he had held 
the snow-white flower in his hand, and had con- 
stantly smelt of it while Circe was speaking ; 
and as he crossed the threshold of the saloon, he 
took good care to inhale several long and deep 
snuffs of its fragrance. Instead of two and 
twenty thrones, which had before been ranged 
around the wall, there was now only a single 
throne, in the centre of the apartment But this 



204 circe's palace. 

was surely the most magnificent seat that ever a 
king or an emperor reposed himself upon, all made 
of chased gold, studded with precious stones, 
with a cushion that looked like a soft heap of 
living roses, and overhung by a canopy of sun- 
light which Circe knew how to weave into 
drapery. The enchantress took Ulysses by the 
hand, and made him sit down upon this daz- 
zling throne. Then, clapping her hands, she 
summoned the chief butler. 

"Bring hither," said she, "the goblet that is 
set apart for kings to drink out of. And fill it 
with the same delicious wine which my royal 
brother, King iEetes praised so highly, when he 
last visited me with my fair daughter Medea 
That good and amiable child ! Were she now 
here, it would delight her to see me offering this 
wine to my honored guest." 

But Ulysses, while the butler was gone for the 
wine, held the snow-white flower to his nose. 

" Is it a wholesome wine '.' " he asked. 

At this the four maidens tittered ; whereupon 
the enchantress looked round at them, with an 
aspect of severity. 

" It is the wholesomest jnice that ever was 



20^ 



squeezed out of the grape," said she ; " for, in- 
stead of disguising a man, as other liquor is apt 
to do, it brings him to his true self, and shows 
him as he ought to be." 

The chief butler liked nothing better than to 
see people turned into swine, or making any 
kind of a beast of themselves ; so he made haste 
to bring the royal goblet, filled with a liquid as 
bright as gold, and which kept sparkling upward, 
and throwing a sunny spray over the brim. But, 
delightfully as the wine looked, it was mingled 
with the most potent enchantments that Circe 
knew how to concoct. For every drop of the 
pure grape juice there were two drops of the 
pure mischief ; and the danger of the thing was, 
that the mischief made it taste all the better. 
The mere smell of the bubbles, which effervesced 
at the brim, was enough to turn a man's beard 
into pig's bristles, or make a lion's claws grow 
out of his fingers, or a fox's brush behind him 

"Drink, my noble guest," said Circe, smiling 
as she presented him with the goblet. " You 
will find in this draught a solace for all you* 
troubles." 

King Ulysses took the goblet witn his right 



;J06 CIRCE'S PALACE 

hand, while with his left he held the snow-white 
flower to his nostrils, and drew in so long a 
breath that his lungs were quite filled with its 
pure and simple fragrance. Then, drinking off 
all the wine, he looked the enchantress calmly 
in the face. 

" Wretch," cried Circe, giving him a smart 
stroke with her wand, " how dare you keep your 
human shape a moment longer ? Take the 
form of the brute whom you most resemble. If 
a hog, go join your fellow-swine in the sty; if a 
lion, a wolf, a tiger, go howl with the wild beasts 
on the* lawn ; if a fox, go exercise your craft in 
stealing poultry. Thou hast quailed off" my 
wine, and canst be man no longer." 

But, such was the virtue of the snow-white 
flower, instead of wallowing down from his 
throne in swinish shape, or taking any other 
brutal form, Ulysses looked even more manly 
and king-like than before. He gave the magic 
goblet a toss, and sent it clashing over the mar 
ble floor, to the farthest end of the saloon. 
Then, drawing his sword, he seized the enchan- 
tress by her beautiful ringlets, and made a ges- 
ture as if he meant to strike off her head at 
one blow. 



CIRCE S PALACE. 



207 



" Wicked Circe/' cried he, in a terrible voice, 
"this sword shall put an end to thy enchant 
ments. Thou shalt die, vile witch, and do no 
more mischief in the world, by tempting human 
beings into the vices which make beasts of 
them." 

The tone and countenance of Ulysses were so 
awful, and his sword gleamed so brightly, and 
seemed to have so intolerably keen an edge, that 
Circe was almost killed by the mere fright, with- 
out waiting for a blow. The chief butler scram- 
bled out of the saloon, picking up the golden 
goblet as he went ; and the enchantress and the 
four maidens fell on their knees, wringing their 
hands, and screaming for mercy. 

" Spare me ! " cried Circe. " Spare me, royal 
and wise Ulysses. For now I know that thou 
art he of whom Quicksilver forewarned me, the 
most prudent of mortals, against whom no en- 
chantments can prevail. Thou only couldst 
have conquered Circe. Spare me, wisest of 
men. I will show thee true hospitality, and 
even give myself to be thy slave, and this mag- 
nificent palace to be henceforth thy home.' , 
The fcur nymphs, meanwhile, were making a 



208 circe's palace. 

most piteous ado; and especially the ocean 
nymph, with the sea-green hair, wept a great 
deal of salt water, and the fountain nymph, be- 
sides scattering dewdrops from her fingers' ends, 
nearly melted away into tears. But Ulysses 
would not be pacified until Circe had taken a 
solemn oath to change back his companions, 
and as many others as he should direct, from 
their present forms of beast or bird into their 
former shapes of men. 

" On these conditions," said he, " I consent to 
spare your life. Otherwise you must die upon 
the spot." 

With a drawn sword hanging over her, the en- 
chantress would readily have consented to do as 
much good as she had hitherto done mischief, 
however little she might like such employment. 
She therefore led Ulysses out of the back en- 
trance of the palace, and showed him the swine 
in their sty. There were about fifty of these 
unclean beasts in the whole herd; and though 
the greater part were hogs by birth and educa- 
tion, there was wonderfully little difference to be 
seen betwixt them and their new brethren who 
had so recently worn the human shape. To 



CIRCE'S PALALE. 209 

speak critically, indeed, the latter rather carried 
the thing to excess, and seemed to make it a 
point to wallow in the miriest part of the sty, 
and otherwise to outdo the original swine in 
their own natural vocation. When men once 
turn to brutes, the trifle of man's wit that remains 
in them adds tenfold to their brutality. 

The comrades of Ulysses, however, had not 
quite lost the remembrance of having formerly 
stood erect. When he approached the sty, two 
and twenty enormous swine separated them- 
selves from the herd, and scampered towards 
him, with such a chorus of horrible squealing as 
made him clap both hands to his ears. And yet 
they did not seem to know what they wanted, 
nor whether they were merely hungry, or misera- 
ble from some other cause. It was curious, in 
the midst of their distress, to observe them thrust- 
ing their noses into the mire, in quest of some- 
thing to eat. The nymph with the bodice of 
oaken bark (she was the hamadryad of an oak) 
threw a handful of acorns among them ; and the 
two and twenty hogs scrambled and fought for 
the prize, as if they had tasted not so much as a 
noggin of sour milk for a twelvemonth. 
14 



210 circe's palace. 

" These must certainly be my comrades," said 
Ulysses. " I recognize their dispositions. They 
are hardly worth the trouble of changing them 
into the human form again. Nevertheless, we 
will have it done, lest their bad example should 
corrupt the other hogs. Let them take their 
original shapes, therefore, Dame Circe, if your 
skill is equal to the task. It will require greater 
magic, I trow, than it did to make swine of 
them." 

So Circe waved her wand again, and repeated 
a few magic words, at the sound of which the 
two and twenty hogs pricked up their pendulous 
ears. It was a wonder to behold how their 
snouts grew shorter and shorter, and their 
mouths (which they seemed to be sorry for, be- 
cause they could not gobble so expeditiously) 
smaller and smaller, and how one and another 
began to stand upon his hind legs, and scratch 
his nose with his fore trotters. At first the spec- 
tators hardly knew whether to call them hogs 
or men, but by and by came to the conclusion 
that they rather resembled the latter. Finally 
theie stood the twenty-two comrades of Ulysses, 
looking pretty much the same as when thry left 
the vessel 



211 



You must not imagine, however, that the 
swinish quality had entirely gone out of them. 
When once it fastens itself into a person's 
character, it is very difficult getting rid of it. 
This was proved by the hamadryad, who, being 
exceedingly fond of mischief, threw another 
handful of acorns before the twenty-two newly 
restored people ; whereupon down they wal- 
lowed, in a moment, and gobbled them up in a 
very shameful way. Then, recollecting them- 
selves, they scrambled to their feet, and looked 
more than commonly foolish. 

" Thanks, noble Ulysses!" they cried. "From 
brute beasts you have restored us to the con- 
dition of men again." 

" Do not put yourselves to the trouble of 
thanking me," said the wise king. " I fear I 
have done but little for you." 

To say the truth, there was a suspicious kind 
of a grunt in their voices, and, for a long time 
afterwards, they spoke gruffly, and were apt to 
get up a squeal. 

" It must depend on your own future beha- 
vior," added Ulysses, "whether you do not find 
your way back to the sty." 



212 circe's palace. 

At this moment, the note of a bird sounded 
from the branch of a neighboring tree. 

" Peep, peep, pe — wee — ep ! " 

It was the purple bird, who, all this while, had 
been sitting over their heads, watching what was 
going forward, and hoping that Ulysses would 
remember how he had done his utmost to keep 
him and his followers out of harm's way. Ulys- 
ses ordered Circe instantly to make a king ol 
this good little fowl, and leave him exactly as she 
found him. Hardly were the words spoken, and 
before the bird had time to utter another " pe — 
weep," King Picus leaped down from the bough 
of the tree, as majestic a sovereign as any in 
the world, dressed in a long purple robe and 
gorgeous yellow stockings, with a splendidly 
wrought collar about his neck, and a golden 
crown upon his head. He and King Ulysses 
exchanged with one another the courtesies which 
belong to their elevated rank. But from that 
time forth, King Picus was no longer proud of 
his crown and his trappings of royalty, nor of 
the fact of his being a king; he felt himself 
merely the upper servant of his people, and that 
it must be his life-long labor to make them 
better and happier. 



circe's palace. 21o 

As for the _ions, tigers, and wolves, (though 
Circe would have restored them to their former 
shapes at his slightest word,) Ulysses thought 
it advisable that they should remain as they 
now were, and thus give warning of their cruel 
dispositions, instead of going about under the 
guise of men, and pretending to human sympa- 
thies, while their hearts had the bloodthirstiness 
of wild beasts. So he let them howl as much 
as they liked, but never troubled his head about 
them. And, when every thing was settled ac- 
cording to his pleasure, he sent to summon the 
remainder of his comrades, whom he had left at 
the sea shore. These being arrived, with the 
prudent Eurylochus at their head, they all made 
themselves comfortable in Circe's enchanted 
palace, until quite rested and refreshed from the. 
toils and hardships of their voyage. 



214 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 



THE POMEGEANATE SEEDS. 



Mother Ceres was exceedingly fond of hei 
daughter Proserpina, and seldom let her go alone 
into the fields. But, just at the time when my 
story begins, the good lady was very busy, be- 
cause she had the care of the wheat, and the 
Indian corn, and th£ rye and barley, and, in shorty 
of the crops of every kind, all over the earth; 
and as the season had thus far been uncommon- 
ly backward, it was necessary to make the har- 
vest ripen more speedily than usual. So she put 
on her turban, made of poppies, (a kind of 
flower which she was always noted for wear 
ing,) and got into her car drawn by a pair oi 
winged dragons, and was just ready to set off. 

" Dear mother," said Proserpina, " I shall be 
very lonely while you are away. May I not run 
down to the shore, and ask some of the sea 



7 HE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 215 

nymphs to come up out z>f the waves and play 
with me ? " 

" Yes, child," answered Mother Ceres. " The 
sea nymphs are good creatures, and will never 
lead you into any harm. But you must take 
care not to stray away from them, nor go wander- 
ing about the fields by yourself. Young girls 
without their mothers to take care of them, are 
very apt to get into mischief." 

The child promised to be as prudent as if she 
were a grown-up woman ; and, by the time the 
winged dragons had whirled the car out of sight, 
she was already on the shore, calling to the sea 
nymphs to come and play with her. They knew 
Proserpina's voice, and were not long in showing 
their glistening faces and sea-green hair above 
the water, at the bottom of which was their 
home. They brought along with them a great 
many beautiful shells ; and sitting down on the 
moist sand, where the surf wave broke over them, 
'hey busied themselves in making a necklace, 
which they hung round Proserpina's neck. By 
way of showing her gratitude, the child be- 
Bought them to go with her a little way into 
the fields, so that they might gather abundance 



216 THE POMEGRANATE SKEDn. 

of flowers, with which she would make each of 
her kind playmates a wreath. 

" O, no, dear Proserpina," cried the sea nymphs; 
14 we dare not go with you upon the dry land. 
We are apt to grow faint, unless at every breath 
we can snuff up the salt breeze of the ocean. 
And don't you see how careful we are to let the 
surf wave break over us every moment or two, 
so as to keep ourselves comfortably moist? If 
it were not for that, we should soon look like 
bunches of uprooted seaweed dried in the sun." 

" It is a great pity," said Proserpina. " But 
do you wait for me here, and I will run and 
gather lay apron full of flowers, and be back 
again before the surf wave has broken ten times 
over you. I long to make you some wreaths 
that shall be as lovely as this necklace of many- 
colored shells." 

" "We will wait, then," answered the sea 
nymphs. " But, while you are gone, we may as 
well lie down on a bank of soft sponge, under 
the water. The air to-day is a little too dry for 
our comfort. But we will pop up our heads 
every few minutes to see if you are coming." 

The young Proserpina ran quickly to a spot 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 217 

wher3, only the day before, she had seen a great 
many flowers. These, however, were now a 
little past their bloom ; and wishing to give her 
friends the freshest and loveliest blossoms, she 
strayed farther into the fields, and found some 
that made he; - scream with delight. Never had 
she met with such exquisite flowers before — 
violets so large and fragrant — roses, with so rich 
and delicate a blush — such superb hyacinths 
and such aromatic pinks — and many others, 
some of which seemed to be of new shapes and 
colors. Two or three times, moreover, she could 
not help thinking that a tuft of most splendid 
flowers had suddenly sprouted out of the earth 
before her very eyes, as if on purpose to tempt 
her a few steps farther. Proserpina's apron was 
soon filled and brimming over with delightful 
blossoms. She was on the point of turning 
back in order to rejoin the sea nymphs, and 
sit with them on the moist sands, all twining 
wreaths together. But, a little farther on, what 
should she behold ? It was a large shrub, com- 
pletely covered with the most magnificent flow- 
ers in the world. 

"The darlings!" cried Proserpina; and then 



218 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

she thought to herself, " I was looking at that 
spot only a moment ago. How strange it^is 
that I did not see the flowers!" 

The nearer she approached the shrub, the 
more attractive it looked, until she came quite 
close to it ; and then, although its beauty was 
richer than words can tell, she hardly knew 
whether to like it or not. It bore above a hun- 
dred flowers of the most brilliant hues, and each 
different from the others, but all having a kind 
of resemblance among themselves, which showed 
them to be sister blossoms. But there was a 
deep, glossy lustre on the leaves of the shrub, 
and on the petals of the flowers, that made Pro- 
serpina doubt whether they might not be poison- 
ous. To tell you the truth, foolish as it may 
seem, she was half inclined to turn round and 
run away. 

" What a silly child I am ! " thought she, tak- 
ing courage. "It is really the most beautiful 
shrub that ever sprang out of the earth. I will 
pull it up by the roots, and carry it home, and 
plant it in my mother's garden." 

Holding U;/> her apron full of flWers with hei 
left hand, Proserpina poized the large shrub with 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 219 

the other, and pulled, and pulled, but was hardly 
able to loosen the soil about its roots. What a 
deep-rooted plant it was ! Again the girl pulled 
with all her might, and observed that the earth 
began to stir and crack to some distance around 
the stem. She gave another pull, but relaxed 
her hold, fancying that there was a rumbling 
sound right beneath her feet. Did the roots ex- 
tend down into some enchanted cavern ? Then, 
laughing at herself for so childish a notion, she 
made another effort : up came the shrub, and 
Proserpina staggered back, holding the stem tri- 
umphantly in her hand, and gazing at the deep 
hole which its roots had left in the soil. 

Much to her astonishment, this hole kept 
spreading wider and wider, and growing deeper 
and deeper, until it really seemed to have no bot- 
tom ; and all the while, there came a rumbling 
noise out of its depths, louder and louder, and 
nearer and nearer, and sounding like the tramp 
of horses' hoofs and the rattling of wheels. Too 
much frightened to run away, she stood straining 
her eyes into this wonderful cavity, and soon saw 
a team of four sable horses, snorting smoke out of 
their nostrils, and tearing their way out of the- 



220 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

earth with a splendid golden chariot whirling at 
their heels. They leaped out of the bottomless 
hole, chariot and all; and there they were, tossing 
their black manes, flourishing their black tails, and 
curvetting with every one of their hoofs off the 
ground at once, close by the spot where Proser- 
pina stood. In the chariot sat the figure of a 
man, richly dressed, with a crown on his head, 
all flaming with diamonds. He was of a noble 
aspect, and rather handsome, but looked sullen 
and discontented ; and he kept rubbing his eyes 
and shading them with his hand, as if he did not 
live enough in the sunshine to be very fond of its 

light. 

As soon as this personage saw the affrighted 
Proserpina, he beckoned her to come a little 
nearer. 

" Do not be afraid," said he, with as cheerful 
a smile as he knew how to put on. " Come . 
Will not you like to ride a little way with me, 
in my beautiful chariot ? " 

But Proserpina was so alarmed, that she wished 
tor nothing but to get out of his reach. And no 
wonder. The stranger did not look remarkably 
good natured, in spite of his smile ; and as foi 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 221 

his voice, its tones were deep and stern, and 
sounded as much like the rumbling of an earth- 
quake under ground as any thing else. As is 
always the case with children in trouble, Proser- 
pina's first thought was to call for her mother. 

"Mother, Mother Ceres!" cried she, all in a 
tremble. " Come quickly and save me." 

But her voice was too faint for her mother to 
hear. Indeed, it is most probable that Ceres 
was then a thousand miles off, making the corn 
grow in some far distant country. Nor could it 
have availed her poor daughter, even had she 
been within hearing ; for no sooner did Proser- 
pina begin to cry oat, than the stranger leaped to 
the ground, caught the child in his arms, and 
again mounting the chariot, shook the reins, and 
shouted to the four black horses to set off. They 
immediately broke into so swift a gallop, that it 
seemed rather like flying through the air than 
mnning along the earth. In a moment, Proser- 
pina lost sight of the pleasant vale of Enna, in 
which she had always dwelt. Another instant, 
and even the summit of Mount ^Etna had be- 
come so blue in the distance, that she could 
scarcely distinguish it from the smoke that 



222 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS 

gushed out of its crates But still the poor child 
screamed, and scattered ner apron full of flowers 
along the way, and left a long cry trailing behind 
the chariot ; and many mothers, to whose ears it 
came, ran quickly to see if any mischief had be- 
fallen their children. But Mother Ceres was a 
great way off, and could not hear the cry. 

As they rode on, the stranger did his best to 
soothe her. 

" Why should you be so frightened, my pretty 
child ?'* said he, trying to soften his rough voice. 
" I promise not to do you any harm. What ! 
You have been gathering flowers ? Wait till we 
come to my palace, and I will give you a garden 
full of prettier flowers than those, all made of 
pearls, and diamonds, and rubies. Can you 
guess who I am ? They call my name Pluto ; 
and I am the king of diamonds and all other 
precious stones. Every atom of the gold and 
silver that lies under the earth belongs to me, to 
Bay nothing of the copper and iron, and of the 
coal mines, which supply me with abundance ot 
fuel. Do you see this splendid crown upon my 
head ? You may have it for a plaything. O 
we shall be very good friends, and you will fin' J 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 223 

me more agreeable than you expect, when once 
we get out of this troublesome sunshine." 

" Let me go home ! " cried Proserpina. " Let 
me go home!." 

" My home is better than your mother's," an- 
swered King Pluto. « It is a palace, all made 
of gold, with crystal windows; and because 
there is little or no sunshine thereabouts, the 
apartments are illuminated with diamond lamps. 
You never saw any thing half so magnificent 
as my throne. If you like, you may sit down on 
it, and be my little queen, and I will sit on the 
footstool." 

" I don't care for golden palaces and thrones," 
sobbed Proserpina. " O my mother, my mother! 
Carry me back to my mother ! " 

But King Pluto, as he called himself, only 
shouted to his steeds to go faster. 

" Pray do not be foolish, Proserpina," said he, 
in rather a sullen tone. " I offer you my palace 
and my crown, and all the riches that are under 
the earth ; and you treat me as if I were doing 
you an injury. The one thing which my palace 
needs is a merry little maid, to run up staira 
and down, and cheer up the rooms with het 



824 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

smile. And this is what you must do for King 
Pluto." 

" Never!" answered Proserpina, looking as mis- 
erable as she could. " I shall never smile again 
till you set me down at my mother's door." 

But she might just as well have talked to the 
wind that whistled past them ; for Pluto urged 
on his horses, and went faster than ever. Proser- 
pina continued to cry out, and screamed so long 
and so loudly, that her poor little voice was 
almost screamed away ; and when it was nothing 
but a whisper, she happened to cast her eyes 
over a great, broad field of waving grain — and 
whom do you think she saw ? Who, but Mother 
Ceres, making the corn grow, and too busy to 
notice the golden chariot as it went rattling 
along. The child mustered all her strength, and 
gave one more scream, but was out of sight be- 
fore Ceres had time to turn her head. 

King Pluto had taken a road which now 
began to grow excessively gloomy. It was bor- 
dered on each side with rocks and precipices, be- 
tween which the rumbling of the chariot wheels 
was reverberated with a noise like rolling thun- 
der. The trees and bushes that grew in the 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 225 

crevices of the rocks had very dismal foliage ; 
and by and by, although it was hardly noon, the 
air became obscured with a gray twilight. The 
black horses had rushed along so swiftly, that they 
were . already beyond the limits of the sunshine. 
But the duskier it grew, the more did Pluto's 
visage assume an air of satisfaction. After all, 
he was not an ill-looking person, especially 
when he left off twisting his features into a smile 
that did not belong to them. Proserpina peeped 
at his face through the gathering dusk, and 
hoped that he might not be so very wicked aa 
she at first thought him. 

" Ah, this twilight is truly refreshing," -said 
King Pluto, " after being so tormented with that 
ugly and impertinent glare of the sun. flow 
much more agreeable is lamplight or torchlight, 
more particularly when reflected from diamonds ! 
It will be a magnificent sight, when we get to 
n\y palace." 

" Is it much farther ? " asked Proserpina. 
" And will you carry me back when I have 
seen it?" 

" We will talk of that by and by," answered 
Plato. " We are just entering mv dominions 
15 



226 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

Do you see that tall gateway before us ? When 
we pass those gates, we are at home. And 
there lies my faithful mastiff at the threshold 
Cerberus! Cerberus! Come hither, my good 
dog!" 

So saying, Pluto pulled at the reins, and 
stopped the chariot right between the tall, mas- 
sive pillars of the gateway. The mastiff of 
which he had spoken got up from the thresh- 
old, and stood on his hinder legs, so as to put 
his fore paws on the chariot wheel. But, my 
stars, what a strange dog it was ! Why, he 
was a big, rough, ugly-looking monster, with 
three separate heads, and each of them fiercer 
than the two others ; but fierce as they were, 
King Pluto patted them all. He seemed as 
fond of his three-headed dog as if it had been a 
sweet little spaniel, with silken ears and curly 
hair. Cerberus, on the other hand, was evi- 
dently rejoiced to see his master, and expressed 
his attachment, as other dogs do, by wagging 
his tail at a great rate. Proserpina's eyes being 
drawn to it by its brisk motion, she saw that 
this taiJ was neither more nor less than a live 
dragon, with fiery eyes, and fangs thnt had 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 2<57 

a veiy paisonous aspect. And while the three- 
tieaded Cerberus was fawning so lovingly on 
King Pluto, there was the dragon tail wagging 
against its will, and looking as cross and ill 
natured as you can imagine, on its own separate 
account. 

" Will the dog bite me ? " asked Proserpina t 
shrinking closer to Pluto. " What an ugly crea- 
ture he is!" 

" O, never fear," answered her companion. 
" He never harms people, unless they try to enter 
my dominions without being sent for, or to get 
away when I wish to keep them here. Down, 
Cerberus ! Now, my pretty Proserpina, we will 
drive on." 

On went the chariot, and King Pluto seemed 
greatly pleased to find himself once more in 
his own kingdom. He drew Proserpina's atten- 
tion to the rich veins of gold that were to be 
seen among the rocks, and pointed to several 
places where one stroke of a pickaxe would 
loosen a bushel of diamonds. All along the 
road, indeed, there were sparkling gems, which 
would have been of inestimable value above 
ground, but which here were reckoned of the 



228 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

meaner sort, and hardly worth a beggar's stoop- 
ing for. 

Not far from the gateway, they came to a 
bridge, which seemed to be built of iron. Pluto 
stopped the chariot, and bade Proserpina look 
at the stream which was gliding so lazily be- 
neath it. Never in her life had she beheld so 
torpid, so black, so muddy-looking a stream : its 
waters reflected no images of any thing that was 
on the banks, and it moved as sluggishly as if 
it had quite forgotten which way it ought to 
flow, and had rather stagnate than flow either 
one way or the other. 

" This is the River Lethe," observed King 
Pluto. " Is it not a very pleasant stream ? " 

" I think it a very dismal one," said Proserpina. 

" It suits my taste, however," answered Pluto, 
who was apt to be sullen when any body dis- 
agreed with him. " At all events, its water has 
one very excellent quality ; for a single draught 
of it makes people forget every care and sorrow 
that has hitherto tormented them. Only sip a 
little of it, my dear Proserpina, and you will 
instantly cease to grieve for your mother, and 
will have nothing in your memory that can 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 229 

prev jiit your being perfectly happy in my palace. 
I will send for some, in a golden goblet, the 
moment we arrive." 

" O, no, no, no ! " cried Proserpina, weeping 
afresh. " I had a thousand times rather be 
miserable with remembering my mother, than 
be happy in forgetting her. That dear, dear 
mother! I never, never will forget her." 

" We shall see," said King Pluto. " You do 
not know what fine times we will have in my 
palace. Here we are just at the portal. These 
pillars are solid gold, I assure you." 

He alighted from the chariot, and taking Pro- 
serpina in his arms, carried her up a lofty flight 
of steps into the great hall of the palace. It was 
splendidly illuminated by means of large precious 
stones, of various hues, which seemed to burn 
like so many lamps, and glowed with a hundred 
fold radiance all through the vast apartment. 
And yet there was a kind of gloom in the midst 
of this enchanted light; nor was there a single 
object in th« hall that was really agreeable to 
behold, except the little Proserpina herself, a 
lovely child, with one earthly flower which she. 
had not let fal! from her hand. It is my opinion 



230 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

that even King Pluto had never been happy in 
his palace, and that this was the true reason whj 
he had stolen away Proserpina, in order that he 
might have something to love, instead of cheat- 
ing his heart any longer with this tiresome mag- 
nificence. And, though he pretended to dislike 
the sunshine of the upper world, yet the effect of 
the child's presence, bedimmed as she was by her 
tears, was as if a faint and watery sunbeam had 
somehow or other found its way into the en- 
chanted hall. 

Pluto now summoned his domestics, and bade 
them lose no time in preparing a most sumptu- 
ous banquet, and above all things, not to fail of 
setting a golden beaker of the water of Lethe 
by Proserpina's plate. 

" I will neither drink that nor any thing else," 
said Proserpina. " Nor will I taste a morsel 
of food, even if you keep me forever m your 
palace." i 

" I should be sorry for that," replied King 
Pluto, patting her cheek ; for he really wished 
to be kind, if he had only known how. " You 
are a spoiled child, I perceive, my little Proser 
pina ; but when you see the nice things which 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 231 

my cook will make for you, your appetite will 
quickly come again." 

Then, sending for the head cook, he gave strict 
orders that ail sorts of delicacies, such as young 
people are usually fond of, should be set before 
Proserpina. He had a secret motive in this ; for, 
you are to understand, it is a fixed law, that, 
when persons are carried off to the land of magic, 
if they once taste any food there, they can never 
get back to their friends. Now, if King Pluto 
had been cunning enough to offer Proserpina 
some fruit, or bread and milk, (which was the 
simple fare to which the child had always been 
accustomed,) it is very probable that she would 
soon have been tempted to eat it. But he left 
the matter entirely to his cook, who, like all other 
cooks, considered nothing fit to eat unless it 
were rich pastry, or highly-seasoned meat, or 
spiced sweet cakes — things which Proserpina's 
mother had never given her, and the smell of 
which quite took away her appetite, instead of 
Bharpening it. • 

But my story must now clamber out of King 
Pluto's dominions, and see what Mother Ceres 
has been about, since she was bereft of hei 



2o2 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

daughter. We had a glimpse of hei, as you 
remember, half hidden among the waving grain, 
while the four black steeds were swiftly whirling 
along the chariot, in which her beloved Proser- 
pina was so unwillingly borne away. You recol- 
lect, too, the loud scream which Proserpina gave, 
just when the chariot was out of sight. 

Of all the eiiik! : s outcries, this last shriek was 
the only one that reached the ears of Mother 
Ceres. She had mistaken the rumbling of the 
chariot wheels for a peal of thunder, and im- 
agined that a shower was coming up, and that 
it would assist her in making the corn grow. 
But, at the sound of Proserpina's shriek, she 
started, and looked about in every direction, not 
knowing whence it came, but feeling almost cer- 
tain that it was her daughter's voice. It seemed 
so unaccountable, however, that the girl should 
have strayed over so many lands and seas, (which 
she herself could not have traversed without the 
aid of her winged dragons,) that the good Ceres 
tried to believe that it jriust be the child of some 
other parent, and not her own darling Proser- 
pina, who had uttered this lamentable cry. Nev- 
ertheless, it troubled her with a vast many tendei 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 23o 

fears, such as are ready to bestir themselves in 
every mother's heart, when she finds it necessary 
to go away from her dear children without leav- 
ing them under the care of some maiden aunt, 
or other such faithful guardian. So she quickly 
left the field in which she had been so busy; 
and, as her work was not half done, the grain 
looked, next day, as if it needed both sun and 
rain, and as if it were blighted in the ear, and 
had something the matter with its roots. 

The pair of dragons must have had very nim- 
ble wings; for, in less than an hour, Mother 
Ceres had alighted at the door of her home, and 
found it empty. Knowing, however, that the 
child was fond of sporting on the sea shore, she 
hastened thither as fast as she could, and there 
beheld the wet faces of the poor sea nymphs 
peeping over a wave. All this while, the good 
creatures had been waiting on the bank of 
sponge, and, once every half minute or so, had 
sopped up their four heads above water, to see 
.f theii playmate were yet coming back. When 
they saw Mother Ceres, they sat down on the 
crest of the surf wave, and let it toss them ashore 
at her feet. 



<&J4 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

" Where is Proserpina ? " cried Ceres. " Where 
is my child ? Tell me, you naughty sea nymphs, 
have you enticed her under the sea ? " 

" O, no, good Mother Ceres," said the inno- 
cent sea nymphs, tossing back their green ring- 
lets, and looking her in the face. " We never 
should dream of such a thing. Proserpina has 
been at play with us, it is true ; but she left us a 
long while ago, meaning only to run a little way 
upon the dry land, and gather some flowers for a 
wreath. This was early in the day, and we have 
seen nothing of her since." 

Ceres scarcely waited to hear what the nymphs 
had to say, before she hurried off to make in- 
quiries all through the neighborhood. But no« 
body told her any thing that could enable the 
poor mother to guess what had become of Pro- 
serpina. A fisherman, it is true, had noticed her 
little footprints in the sand, as he went home- 
ward along the beach with a basket of fish ; a 
rustic had seen the child stooping to gather flow- 
ers ; several persons had heard either the rattling 
of chariot wheels, or the rumbling of distant 
thunder ; and one old woman, while plucking 
vervain and catnip, had heard a scream, but sup- 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 235 

posed it to be some childish nonsense, and there- 
fore did not take the trouble to look up. The 
stupid people ! It took them such a tedious 
while to tell the nothing that they knew, that it 
was dark night before Mother Ceres found out 
that she must seek her daughter elsewhere. So 
she lighted a torch, and set forth, resolving nevei 
to come back until Proserpina was discovered. 

In her haste and trouble of mind, she quite 
forget her car and the winged dragons; or, it 
may be, she thought that she could follow up 
the search more thoroughly on foot. At alJ 
events, this was the way in which she began her 
sorrowful journey, holding her torch before her, 
and looking carefully at every object along the 
path. And as it happened, she had not gone 
far before she found one of the magnificent 
flowers which grew on the shrub that Proser- 
pina had pulled up. 

" Ha ! " thought Mother Ceres, examining it 
by torchlight. " Here is mischief in this flower! 
The earth did not produce it by any help of 
mine, nor of its own accord. It is the work of 
enchantment, and is therefore poisonous ; and 
perhaps it has poisoned my poor child." 



236 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

But she put the poisonous flower in her bosom, 
not knowing whether she might ever find any 
other memorial of Proserpina. 

All night long, at the door of every cottage 
and farm house, Ceres knocked, and called up 
the weary laborers to inquire if they had seen 
her child ; and they stood, gaping and half asleep, 
at the threshold, and answered her pityingly, and 
besought her to come in and rest. At the portal 
of every palace, too, she made so loud a sum- 
mons that the menials hurried to throw open the 
gate, thinking that it must be some great king or 
queen, who would demand a banquet for supper 
and a stately chamber to repose in. And when 
they saw only a sad and anxious woman, with a 
torch in her hand and a wreath of withered pop- 
pies on her head, they spoke rudely, and some- 
times threatened to set the dogs upon her. But 
nobody had seen Proserpina, nor could give 
Mother Ceres the least hint which way to seek 
her. Thus passed the night ; and still she con- 
tinued her search without sitting down to rest or 
stopping to take food, or even remembering to 
put out the torch ; although first the rosy dawn, 
and then the glad light of the mornirg sun 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 237 

made its red flame look thin and pale. But I 
wonder what sort of stuff this torch was made 
of ; for it burned dimly through the day, and, at 
night, was as bright as ever, and never was ex- 
(anguished by the rain or wind, in all the weary 
days and nights while Ceres was seeking for 
Proserpina. 

It was not merely of human beings that she 
asked tidings of her daughter. In the woods 
and by the streams, she met creatures of another 
nature, who used, in those old times, to haunt 
the pleasant and solitary places, and were very 
sociable with persons who understood their lan- 
guage and customs, as Mother Ceres did. Some- 
times, for instance, she tapped with her finger 
against the knotted trunk of a majestic oak ; and 
immediately its rude bark would cleave asunder, 
And forth would step a beautiful maiden, who 
was the hamadryad of the oak, dwelling inside 
of it, and sharing its long life, and rejoicing 
when its green leaves sported with the breeze. 
But not one of these leafy damsels had seen 
Proserpina. Then, going a little farther, Ceres 
would, perhaps, come to a fountain, gushing out 
of a pebb'y hollow in the earth, and would 



238 



PCWEG ItANATE SEEDS. 



dabble with her hand in the water. Behold, up 
ih rough its sandy and pebbly bed, along with 
the fountain's gush, a young woman with drip- 
ping hair would arise, and stand gazing at Mother 
Ceres, half out of the water, and undulating up 
and down with its ever-restless motion. But 
when the mother asked whether her poor lost 
child had stopped to drink out of the fountain, 
the naiad, with weeping eyes, (for these water 
nymphs had tears to spare for every body's 
grief,) would answer "No! "in a murmuring 
voice, which was just like the murmur of the 
stream. 

' Often, likewise, she encountered fauns, who 
looked like sunburnt country people, except that 
they had hairy ears, and little horns upon their 
foreheads, and the hinder legs of goats, on which 
they gambolled merrily about the woods and 
fields. They were a frolicsome kind of creature, 
but grew as sad as their cheerful dispositions 
would allow, when Ceres inquired for her daugh- 
ter, and they had no good news to tell. But 
sometimes she came suddenly upon a rude gang 
of satyrs, who had faces like monkeys, and 
horses' tails behind them, and who were gen- 



q 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 239 

era 11 y dancing in a very boisterous manner, with 
shouts of noisy laughter. When she stopped 
to que?jtion them, they would only laugh the 
louder, and make new merriment out of the lone 
woman s distress. How unkind of those ugly 
satyrs ! And once, while crossing a solitary 
sheep pasture, she saw a personage named Pan, 
seated at the foot of a tall rock, and making 
music on a shepherd's flute. He, too, had horns, 
and hairy ears, and goat's feet; but, being ac- 
uainted with Mother Ceres, he answered her 
question as civilly as he knew how, and invited 
her to taste some milk and honey out of a wooden 
bowl. But neither could Pan tell her what had 
become of Proserpina, any better than the rest 
of these wild people. 

And thus Mother Ceres went wandering about 
for nine long days and nights, finding no trace 
of Proserpina, unless it were now and then a 
withered flower; and these she picked up and 
put in her bosom, because she fancied that they 
might have fallen from her poor child's hand. 
All day she travelled onward through the hot 
sun ; and at night, again, the flame of the torch 
would redden and gleam along the pathway, and 



240 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

she continued her search by its light, without 
ever sitting down to rest. 

On the tenth day, she chanced to espy the 
mouth of a cavern, within which (though it was 
bright noon every where else) there would have 
been only a dusky twilight ; but it so happened 
that a torch was burning there. It flickered, 
and struggled with the duskiness, but ould not 
half light up the gloomy cavern with all its mel- 
ancholy glimmer. Ceres was resolved to leave 
no spot without a search ; so she peeped into the 
entrance of the cave, and lighted it up a little 
more, by holding her own torch before her. 
In so doing, she caught a glimpse of what 
seemed to be a woman, sitting on the brown 
leaves of the last autumn, a great heap of which 
had been swept into the cave by the wind. 
This woman (if woman it were) was by no 
means so beautiful as many of her sex ; for her 
head, they tell me, was shaped very much like a 
dog's, and, by way of ornament, she wore a 
wreath of snakes around it. But Mother Ceres, 
the moment she saw her, knew that this was an 
odd kind of a person, who put all her enjoyment 
ir* being miserable, and never would have a 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 241 

word to say to other people, unless they were as 
melancholy and wretched as she herself delighted 
to be. 

" I am wretched enough now," thought poor 
Ceres, " to talk with this melancholy Hecate, 
were she ten times sadder than ever she was 
yet." 

So she stepped into the cave, and sat down 
on the withered leaves by the dog-headed wo- 
man's side. In all the world, since her daugh- 
ter's loss, she had found no other companion. 

" O Hecate," said she, " if ever you lose a 
daughter, you will know what sorrow is. Tell 
me, for pity's sake, have you seen my poor child 
Proserpina pass by the mouth of your cavern ? " 

" No," answered Hecate, in a cracked voice, 
and sighing betwixt every word or two ; " no, 
Mother Ceres, I have seen nothing of your 
daughter. But my ears, you must know, are 
made in such a way, that all cries of distress and 
affright, all over the world, are pretty sure to find 
their way to them ; and nine days ago, as I sat in 
my cave, making myself very miserable, I heard 
the voice of a young girl, shrieking as if in great 
iistresa. Something terrible has happened to the 
16 



842 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

child, you may rest assured. As well as I could 
judge, a dragon, or some other cruel monster, 
was carrying her away." 

" You kill me by saying so," cried Ceres, 
almost ready to faint. " Where was the sound, 
and which way did it seem to go ? " 

" It passed very swiftly along," said Hecate, 
" and, at the same time, there was a heavy rum- 
bling of wheels towards the eastward. I can 
tell you nothing more, except that, in my honest 
opinion, you will never see your daughter again. 
The best advice I can give you is, to take up 
your abode in this cavern, where we will be the 
two most wretched women in the world/' 

" Not yet, dark Hecate," replied Ceres " But 
do you first come with your torch, and help me 
to seek for my lost child. And when there 
shall be no more hope of finding her, (if that 
black day is ordained to come,) then, if you will 
give me room to fling myself down, either on 
these withered leaves or on the naked rock, I 
will show you what it is to be miserable. But, 
until I know that she has perished from the 
face of the earth, 1 will not allow myself space 
even to grieve." 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 



243 



The dismay Hecate did not much like the 
idea of going abroad into the sunny world. But 
then she reflected that the sorrow of the discon- 
solate Ceres would be like a gloomy twilight 
round about them both, let the sun shine ever so 
brightly, and that therefore she might enjoy her 
bad spirits quite as well as she if she were to 
stay in the cave. So she finally consented to 
go, and they set out together, both carrying 
torches, although it was broad daylight and clear 
sunshine. The torchlight seemed to make a 
gloom ; so that the people whom they met, along 
the road, could not very distinctly see their 
figures; and, indeed, if they once caught a 
glimpse of Hecate, with the wreath of snakes 
round her forehead, they generally thought it 
prudent to run away, without waiting for a 
second glance. 

As the pair travelled along in this woe-begone 
manner, a thought struck Ceres. 

" There is one person," she exclaimed, " who 
must have seen my poor child, and can doubtless 
tell what has become of her. Why did not I 
think of him before ? It is Phoebus." 

" What," said Hecate, " the young man that 



244 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS 

always siis in the sunshine? O, pray do not 
think of going near him. He is a gay, light, 
frivolous young fellow, and will only smile in 
your face. And besides, there is such a glare of 
the sun about him, that he will quite blind my 
poor eyes, which I have almost wept away 
already." 

" You have promised to be my companion," 
answered Ceres. " Come, let us make haste, or 
the sunshine will be gone, and Phoebus along 
with it." 

Accordingly, they went along in quest of 
Phoebus, both of them sighing grievously, and 
Hecate, to say the truth, making a great deal 
worse lamentation than Ceres ; for all the pleas- 
ure she had, you know, lay in being, miserable, 
and therefore she made the most of it. By and 
by, after a pretty long journey, they arrived at 
the sunniest spot in the whole world. There they 
beheld a beautiful young man, with long, curl- 
ing ringlets, which seemed to be made of golden 
sunbeams ; his garments were like light summer 
clouds; and the expression of his face was so 
exceedingly vivid, that Hecate held her hands 
before her eyes, muttering that he ought to wear 



TIIF. POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 245 

a black veil. Phoebus (for this was the very 
person whom they were seeking) had a lyre in 
his hands, and was making its chords tremble 
with sweet music ; at the same time singing a 
most exquisite song, which he had recently com- 
posed. For, besides a great many other accom- 
plishments, this young man was renowned for 
his admirable poetry. 

As Ceres and her dismal companion ap- 
proached him, Phoebus smiled on them so cheer- 
fully that Hecate's wreath of snakes gave a 
spiteful hiss, and Hecate heartily wished herself 
back in her cave. But as for Ceres, she was 
too earnest in her grief either to know or care 
whether Phoebus smiled or frowned. 

" Phoebus ! " exclaimed she, " I am in great 
trouble, and have come to you for assistance. 
Can you tell me what has become of my dear 
child Proserpina ? " 

" Proserpina ! Proserpina, did you call her 
name ? " answered Phoebus, endeavoring to recol- 
lect; for there was such a continual flow of 
pleasant ideas in his mind, that he was apt to 
forget what had happened no longer ago than 
yesterday. " Ah, yes^ I remember her now. A 



246 tup: pomegranate seeds. 

very lovely child, indeed. I am happy to tell 
you, my dear madam, that I did see the little 
Proserpina not many days ago. You may 
make yourself perfectly easy about her. She is 
safe, and in excellent hands." 

" O, where is my dear child ? " cried Ceres, 
clasping her hands and flinging herself at his 
feet. 

" Why," said Phcebus, — and as he spoke, he 
kept touching his lyre so as to make a thread 
of music run in and out among his words, — 
" as the little damsel was gathering flowers, (and 
she has really a very exquisite taste for flowers,) 
she was suddenly snatched up by King Pluto, 
and carried off to his dominions. I have never 
been in that part of the universe ; but the royal 
palace, I am told, is built in a very noble style 
of architecture, and of the most splendid and 
costly materials. Gold, diamonds, pearls, and 
all manner of precious stones, will be your 
daughter's ordinary playthings. I recommend 
to you, my dear lady, to give yourself no un- 
easiness. Proserpina's sense of beauty will be 
duly gratified, and, even in spite of the lack of 
sunshine, she will lead a very enviable life." 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 247 

"Hush! Say not such a word!" answered 
Ceres, indignantly. " What is there to gratify 
her heart? What are all the splendors you 
speak of, without affection ? 1 must have her 
back again Will you go with me, Phoebus, to 
demand my daughter of this wicked Pluto?" 

" Pray excuse me," replied Phoebus, with an 
elegant obeisance. " I certainly wish you suc- 
cess, and regret that my own affairs are so im- 
mediately pressing that I cannot have the pleas- 
ure of attending you.. Besides, I am not upon 
the best of terms with King Pluto. To tell you 
the truth, his three-headed mastiff would never 
let me pass the gateway; for I should be com- 
pelled to take a sheaf of sunbeams along with 
me, and those, you know, are forbidden things 
in Pluto's kingdom." 

" Ah, Phoebus," said Ceres, with bitter mean- 
ing in her words, " you have a harp instead of a 
heart. Farewell." 

" Will not you stay a moment," asked Phoe- 
bus, " and hear me turn the pretty and touching 
story of Proserpina into extemporary verses ? " 

But Ceres shook her head, and hastened away, 
along with Hecate. Phoebus (who, as I have 



248 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

told you, was an exquisite poet) forthwith began 
to make an ode about the poor mother's grief; 
and, if we were to judge of his sensibility by 
this beautiful production, he must have been 
endowed with a very tender heart. But when a 
poet gets into the habit of using his heartstrings 
to make chords for his lyre, he may thrum upon 
them as much as he will, without any great pain 
to himself. Accordingly, though Phoebus sang 
a very sad song, he was as merry all the while 
as were the sunbeams amid which he dwelt. 
Poor Mother Ceres had now found out what 
had become of her daughter, but was not a whit 
happier than before. Her case, on the contrary, 
looked more desperate than ever. As long as 
Proserpina was above ground, there might have 
been hopes of regaining her. But now that the 
poor child was shut up within the iron gates of 
the king of the mines, at the threshold of which 
lay the three-headed Cerberus, there seemed no 
possibility of her ever making her escape. The 
dismal Hecate, who loved to take the darkest 
view of things, told Ceres that she had better 
come with her to the cavern, and spend the re si 
of her life in being miserable. Ceres answered. 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 



249 



that Hecate was welcome to go back thither her- 
self, but that, for her part, she would wander 
about the earth in quest of the entrance to King 
Pluto's dominions. And Hecate took her at her 
word, and hurried back to her beloved cave, 
frightening a great many little children with a 
glimpse of her dog's face, as she went. 

Poor Mother Ceres ! It is melancholy to think 
of her, pursuing her toilsome way, all alone, and 
holding up that never-dying torch, the flame of 
which seemed an emblem of the grief and hope 
that burned together in her heart, So much did 
she suffer, that, though her aspect had been quite 
youthful when her troubles began, she grew to 
look like an elderly person in a very brief time. 
She cared not how she was dressed, nor had she 
ever thought of flinging away the wreath of 
withered poppies, which she put on the very 
morning of Proserpina's disappearance. She 
roamed about in so wild a way, and with her 
hair so dishevelled, that people took her for some 
distracted creature, and never dreamed that this 
was Mother Ceres, who had the oversight of every 
seed which the husbandman planted. Nowa- 
days, however, she gave herself no trouble about 



250 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

seed time nor harvest, but left the farmers to 
take care of their own affairs, and the crops to 
fade or flourish, as the case might be. There 
was nothing, now, in which Ceres seemed to feel 
an interest, unless when she saw children at 
play, or gathering flowers along the wayside. 
Then, indeed, she would stand and gaze at them 
with tears in her eyes. The children, too, ap- 
peared to have a sympathy with her grief, and 
would cluster themselves in a little group about 
her knees, and look up wistfully in her face ; and 
Ceres, after giving them a kiss all round, would 
lead them to their homes, and advise their moth- 
ers never to let them stray out of sight. 

" For if they do," said she, " it may happen to 
you, as it has to me, that the iron-hearted King 
Pluto will take a liking to your darlings, and 
snatch them up in his chariot, and carry them 
away." 

One day, during her pilgrimage in quest of 
the entrance to Pluto's kingdom, she came to 
the palace of King Celeus, who reigned at Eieu- 
sis. Ascending a lofty flight of steps, she en- 
tered the portal, and found the royal household 
in very great alarm about the queen's baby. 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 251 

The infant, it seems, was sickly, (being troubled 
with its teeth, I suppose,) and would take no 
food, and was all the time moaning with pain. 
The queen — her name was Metanira — was de- 
sirous of finding a nurse ; and when she beheld 
a woman of matronly aspect coming up the 
palace steps, she thought, in her own mind, that 
here was the very person whom she needed. So 
Queen Metanira ran to the door, with the poor 
wailing baby in her arms, and besought Ceres to 
take charge of it, or, at least, to tell her what 
would do it good. 

" Will you trust the child entirely to me ? " 
asked Ceres. 

« Yes, and gladly too," answered the queen, " if 
you will devote all your time to him. For I can 
see that you have been a mother." 

" You are right," said Ceres. " I once had a 
child of my own. Well ; I will be the nurse of 
this poor, sickly boy. But beware, I warn you, 
that you do not interfere with any kind of treat- 
ment which I may judge proper for him. If 
you do so, the poor infant must suffer for hi? 
mother's folly." 

Then she sissed the child, and it seemed to do 



252 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

him good, for he smiled and nestled closely ir»t€ 
her bosom. 

So Mother Ceres set her torch in a corner, 
(where it kept burning all the while,) and took up 
her abode in the palace of King Celeus, as nurse 
to the little Prince Deinopnoon. She treated 
him as if he were her own child, and allowed 
neither the king nor the queen to say whether 
he should be bathed in warm or cold water, or 
what he should eat, or how often he should take 
the air, or when he should be put to bed. You 
would hardly believe me, if I were to tell how 
quickly the baby prince got rid of his ailments, 
and grew fat, and rosy, and strong, and how he 
had two rows of ivory teeth in less time than 
any other little fellow, before or since. Instead 
of the palest, and wretchedest, and puniest imp 
in the world, (as his own mother confessed him 
to be, when Ceres first took him in charge,) he 
was now a strapping baby, crowing, laughing, 
kicking up his heels, and rolling from one end 
of the room to the other. All the good women 
of the neighborhood crowded to the palace, and 
held up their hands, in unutterable amazement, 
at tin beauty and wholesomeness of this darling 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 253 

little prince. Their wonder was the greater, be- 
cause he was nevei seon to taste any food ; not 
even so much as a cup of milk. 

" Pray, nurse," the queen kept saying, " how 
is it that you make the child thrive so ? " 

" I was a mother once," Ceres always replied ; 
"and having nursed my own child, I know what 
other children need." 

But Queen Metanira, as was very natural, had 
a great curiosity to know precisely what the 
nurse did to her child. One night, therefore, she 
hid herself in the chamber where Ceres and the 
little prince were accustomed to sleep. There 
was a fire in the chimney, and it had now 
crumbled into great coals and embers, which lay 
glowing on the hearth, with a blaze flickering 
up now and then, and flinging a warm and rud- 
dy light upon the walls. Ceres sat before the 
hearth with the child in her lap, and the fire- 
light making her shadow dance upon the ceiling 
overhead. She undressed the little prince, and 
bathed him all over with some fragrant liquid 
out of a vase. The next thing she did was to 
rake back the red embers, and make a hollow 
place among them, just where the backlog had 



254 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

been. At last, while the baby was crowing, and 
clapping its fat little hands, and laughing in the 
nurse's face, (just as you may have seen your 
little brother or sister do before going into its 
warm bath,) Ceres suddenly laid him, all naked 
as he was, in the hollow among the red-hot err- 
hers. She then raked the ashes over him, and 
turned quietly away. 

You may imagine, if you can, how Queen 
Metanira shrieked, thinking nothing less than 
that her dear child would be burned to a cinder. 
She burst forth from her hiding-place, and run- 
ning to the hearth, raked open the fire, and 
snatched up poor little Prince Demophoon out 
of his bed of live coals, one of which he was 
griping in each of his fists. He immediately set 
up a grievous cry, as babies are apt to do, when 
rudely startled out of a sound sleep. To the 
queen's astonishment and joy, she could perceive 
no token of the child's being injured by the hot 
fire in which he had lain. She now turned to 
Mother Ceres, and asked her to explain the 
mystery. 

" Foolish woman," answered Ceres, " did you 
not promise to intrust this poor infant entirely 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 



255 



to me? You little know the mischief you have 
done him. Had you lefl him to my care, he 
would have grown up like a child of celestial 
birth, endowed with superhuman strength and 
intelligence, and would have lived forever. Do 
you imagine that earthly children are to become 
iYnmortal without being tempered to it in the 
fiercest heat of the fire ? But you have ruined 
your own son. For though he will be a strong 
man and a hero in his day, yet, on account of 
your folly, he will grow old, and finally die, like 
the sons of other women. The weak tender- 
ness of his mother has cost the poor boy an 
immortality. Farewell." 

Saying these words, she kissed the little Prince 
Demophoon, and sighed to think what he had 
lost, and took her departure without heeding 
Queen Metanira, who entreated her to remain, 
and cover up the child among the hot embers as 
often as she pleased. Poor baby ! He never 
slept so warmly again. 

While she dwelt in the king's palace, Mother 
Ceres had been so continually occupied with 
taking care of the young prince, that her heart 
^as a little lightened of its grief for Proserpina 



256 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

But now, having nothing else to busy herself 
about, she became just as wretched as before. 
At length, in her despair, she came to the dread- 
ful resolution that not a stalk of grain, nor a 
blade of grass, not a potato, nor a turnip, nor 
any other vegetable that was good for man or 
beast to eat, should be suffered to grow until her 
daughter were restored. She even forbade the 
flowers to bloom, lest somebody's heart should 
be cheered by their beauty. 

Now, as not so much as a head of asparagus 
ever presumed to poke itself out of the ground, 
without the especial permission of Ceres, you 
may conceive what a terrible calamity had 
here fallen upon the earth. The husbandmen 
ploughed and planted as usual ; but there lay 
the rich black furrows, ail as barren as a desert 
of sand. The pastures looked as brown in the 
sweet month of June as ever they did in chill 
November. The rich man's broad acres and 
the cottager's small garden patch were equally 
blighted. Every little girl's flower bed showed 
nothing but dry stalks. The old people shook 
their white heads, and said that the earth had 
grown aged like themselves, and was no lo^cr 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 



257 



capa^e of wearing the warm smile of simmer 
on its face. It was really piteous to see the poor, 
starving cattle and sheep, how they followed 
behind Ceres, lowing and bleating, as if their 
instinct taught them to expect help from her; 
and every body that was acquainted with hei 
power besought her to have mercy on the human 
race, and, at all events, to let the grass grow. 
But Mother Ceres, though naturally of an affec- 
tionate disposition, was now inexorable. 

" Never," said she. « If the earth is ever again 
to see any verdure, it must first grow along the 
path which my daughter will tread in coming 
back to me." 

Finally, as there seemed to be no other rem- 
edy, our old friend Quicksilver was sent post 
haste to King Pluto, in hopes that he might be 
persuaded to undo the mischief he had done, 
and to set every thing right again, by giving up 
Proserpina. Quicksilver accordingly made the 
best of his way to the great gate, took a flying 
leap right over the three-headed mastiff, and 
stood at the door ol the palace in an inconceiv- 
ably short time. The servants knew him both 
by his face and garb ; for his short cloak, and his 
17 



258 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 



winged cap and shoes, and his snaky staff had 
often been seen thereabouts in times gone by 
He requested to be shown immediately into the 
King's presence ; and Pluto, who heard his voice 
from the top of the stairs, and who loved to rec- 
reate himself with Quicksilver's merry talk 
called out to him to come up. And while they 
settle their business together, we must inquire 
what Proserpina has been doing ever since we 
saw her last. 

The child had declared, as you may remember 
that she would not taste a mouthful of food as 
long as she should be compelled to remain in 
King Pluto's palace. How she contrived to 
maintain her resolution, and at the same time 
to keep herself tolerably plump and rosy, is more 
than I can explain ; but some young ladies, I am 
given to understand, possess the faculty of living 
on air, and Proserpina seems lo have possessed 
it too. At any rate, it was now six months 
since she left the outside of the earth ; and not 
a morsel, so far as the attendants were able to 
testify, had yet passed between her teeth. This 
was the more creditable to Proserpi la, inasmuch 
as King Pluto had caused her to be tempted 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 259 

lay after day, with all manner of sweetmeats, 
and richly-preserved fruits, and delicacies of every 
sort, such as young people are generally most 
fond of. But her good mother had often told 
her of the hurtfulness of these things ; and for 
that reason alone, if there had been no other, ehe 
would have resolutely refused to taste them. 

All this time, being of a cheerful and active 
disposition, the little damsel was not quite so 
unhappy as you may have supposed. The im- 
mense palace had a thousand rooms, and wai 
full of beautiful and wonderful objects. There 
was a never-ceasing gloom, it is true, which half 
hid itself among the innumerable pillars, gliding 
before the child as she wandered among them, and 
treading stealthily behind her in the echo of her 
footsteps. Neither was all the dazzle of the pre- 
cious stones, which flamed with their own light, 
worth one gleam of natural sunshine; nor could 
the most brilliant of the many-colored gems, 
which Pro serpina had for playthings, vie with 
the simple beauty of the flowers she used to 
gather. But still, wherever the girl went, among 
those gilded halls and chambers, it seemed as if 
she carried nature and sunshine along with her, 



260 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

and as if she scattered dewy blossoms on her 
right hand and on her left. After Proserpina 
came, the palace was no longer the same abode 
of stately artifice and dismal magnificence that 
it had before been. The inhabitants all felt this, 
and King Pluto more than any of them. 

" My own little Proserpina," he used to say, 
" I wish you could like me a little better. We 
gloomy and cloudy-natured persons have often aa 
warm hearts, at bottom, as those of a more 
cheerful character. If you would only stay with 
me of your own accord, it would make me hap- 
pier than the possession of a hundred such pal- 
aces as this." 

" Ah," said Proserpina, " you should have tried 
to make me like you before carrying me off. 
And the best thing you can now do is, to let me 
go again. Then I might remember you some- 
times, and think that you were as kind as you 
knew how to be. Perhaps, too, one day or 
other, I might come back, and pay you a visit." 

" No, no," answered Pluto, with his gloomy 
Bmile, " I will not trust you for that. You are 
too fond of living in the broad daylight, and 
gathering flowers. What an idle and childish 



THE l»(h,IEGRANATE SEEDS. 



261 



taste that is 1 Are not these gems, which 1 havi 
ordered to be dug for you, and which are richer 
than any in my crown — are they not prettier 
than a violet?" 

" Not half so pretty," said Proserpina, snatch- 
ing the gems from Pluto's hand, and flinging 
them to the other end of the hall. " O my 
sweet violets, shall I never see you again ? " 

And then she burst into tears. But young 
people's tears have very little saltness or acidity 
in them, and do not inflame the eyes so much aa 
those of grown persons ; so that it is not to be 
wondered at, if, a few moments afterwards, 
Proserpina was sporting through the hall almost 
as merrily as she and the four sea nymphs had 
sported along the edge of the surf wave. King 
Pluto gazed after her, and wished that he, too, 
was a child. And little Proserpina, when she 
lurned about, and beheld this great king stand- 
ing in his splendid hall, and looking so grand, 
and so melancholy, and so lonesome, was smit- 
ten with a kind of pity. She ran back to him, 
and, for the firs! - time in all her life, put her 
small, soft hand in his. 

' 1 love you a little," whispered she, looking 
up in his face. 



262 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

" Do you, indeed, my dear child ? " cried Pluto, 
bending his dark face down to kiss her; bm 
Proserpina shrank away from the kiss, for 
though his features were noble, they were very 
dusky and grim. " Well, I have not deserved it 
of you, after keeping you a prisoner for so many 
months, and starving you, besides. Are you not 
terribly hungry ? Is there nothing which I can 
get you to eat?" 

In asking this question, the king of the mines 
had a very cunning purpose ; for, you will recol- 
lect, if Proserpina tasted a morsel of food in his 
dominions, she would never afterwards be at 
liberty to quit them. 

" No, indeed," said Proserpina. " Your head 
cook is always baking, and stewing, and roast- 
ing, and rolling out paste, and contriving one 
dish or another, which he imagines may be to 
my liking. But he might just as well save him- 
self the trouble, poor, fat little man that he is. I 
have no appetite for any thing in the world, un- 
less it were a slice of bread, of my mother's own 
baking, or a little fruit out of her garden." 

When Pluto heard this, he began to see that 
he had mistaken the best method of tempting 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS* 263 

Pru'serpina to eat. The cook's made, dishes and 
artificial dainties were not half so delicious, in 
the good child's opinion, as the simple fare to 
which Mother Ceres had accustomed her. Won- 
dering that he had never thought of it before, 
the king now sent one of his trusty attendants, 
with a large basket, to get some of the finest and 
juiciest pears, peaches, and plums which could 
any where be found in the upper world. Unfor- 
tunately, however, this was during the time 
when Ceres had forbidden any fruits or vegeta- 
bles to grow ; and, after seeking all over the 
earth, King Pluto's servant found only a single 
pomegranate, and that so dried up as to be not 
worth eating. Nevertheless, since there was no 
better to be had, he brought this dry, old, with- 
ered pomegranate home to the palace, put it on 
a magnificent golden salver, and carried it 
up to Proserpina. Now, it happened, curiously 
enough, that, just as the servant was bringing 
the pomegranate into the back door of the palace, 
our friend Quicksilver had gone up the froni 
steps, on his errand to get Proserpina away from 
King Pluto. 

As soon as Proserpina saw the pomegranate 



2()4 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

on the golden salver, she told the servant lie 
had better take it away again. 

" I shall not touch it, I assure you," said she. 
11 If I were ever so hungry, I should never think 
of eating such a miserable, dry pomegranate as 
that." 

" It is the only one in the world," said the 
servant. 

He set down the golden salver, with the wizened 
pomegranate upon it, and left the room. When 
he was gone, Proserpina could not help coming 
close to the table, and looking at this poor specie 
men of dried fruit with a great deal of eagerness ; 
for, to say the truth, on seeing something that 
suited her taste, she felt all the six months' appe- 
tite taking possession of her at once. To be 
sure, it was a very wretched-looking pomegran- 
ate, and seemed to have no more juice in it than 
an oyster shell. But there was no choice of 
such things in King Pinto's palace. This was 
the first fruit she had seen there, and the last she 
was ever likely to see ; and unless she ate it up 
immediately, it would grow drier than it already 
was, and be wholly unfit to eat. 

*' At least, I may smell it," thought Proserpina 



THE POMEGRANATE bEEDS. 265 

So she took up the pomegranate, and applied 
it to her nose ; and, somehow or other, being in 
such close neighborhood • to her mouth, the fruit 
found its way into that little red cave. Dear 
me ! what an everlasting pity ! Before Proser- 
pina knew what she was about, her teeth had 
actually bitten it, of their own accord. Just as 
this fatal deed was done, the door of the apart- 
ment opened, and in came King Pluto, followed 
by Quicksilver, who had been urging him to let 
his little prisoner go. At the first noise of their 
entrance, Proserpina withdrew the pomegranate 
from her mouth. But Quicksilver (whose eyes 
were very keen, and his wits the sharpest that 
ever any body had) perceived that the child was 
a little confused ; and seeing the empty salver, 
he suspected that she had been taking a sly 
nibble of something or other. As for honest 
Pluto, he never guessed at the secret. 

" My little Proserpina," said the king, sitting 
down, and affectionately drawing her between 
his knees, " here is Quicksilver, who tells me 
that a great many misfortunes have befallen in- 
nocent people on account of my detaining you 
\n my dominions. To confess the truth, I my- 



266 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

self had already reflected that it was an unjusti- 
fiable act to take you away from your good 
mother. But, then, you must consider, my dear 
child, that this vast palace is apt to be gloomy, 
(although the precious stones certainly shine very 
bright,) and that I am not of the most cheerful 
disposition, and that therefore it was a natural 
thing enough to seek for the society of some 
merrier creature than myself. I hoped you 
Would take my crown for a plaything, and me — 
ah, you laugh, naughty Proserpina — me, grim 
as I am, for a playmate. It was a silly ex- 
pectation." 

" Not so extremely silly," whispered Proser- 
pina. " You have really amused me very much, 
sometimes." 

" Thank you," said King Pluto, rather dryly. 
" But I can see, plainly enough, that you think 
my palace a dusky prison, and me the iron- 
hearted keeper of it. And an iron heart I should 
surely have, if I could detain you here any 
longer, my poor child, when it is now six months 
since you tasted food. I give you your liberty. 
Go with Quicksilver. Hasten home to your 
dear mother" 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 267 

Now, although you may not have supposed 
it, Proserpina found it impossible to take leave 
of poor King Pluto without some regrets, and 
a good deal of compunction for not telling him 
about the pomegranate She even shed a tear 
or two, thinking how lunely and cheerless the 
great palace would seem to him, with all its 
ugly glare of artificial light, after she herself — 
his one little ray of natural sunshine, whom he 
had stolen, to be sure, but only because he 
valued her so much — after she should have de- 
parted. I know not how many land things she 
might have said to the disconsolate king of the 
mines, had not Quicksilver hurried her away. 

" Come along quickly," whispered he in her 
ear, " or his majesty may change his royal mind. 
And take care, above all things, that you say 
nothing of what was brought you on the golden 
salver." 

In a very short time, they had passed the great 
gateway, (leaving the three-headed Cerberus, 
barking, and yelping, and growling, with three 
fold din, behind them,) and emerged upon the 
surface of the earth. It was delightful to behold, 
as Proserp : na hastened along, how the path grew 



268 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 

verdant behind and on either side of her. Wher 
ever she set hei blessed foot, there was at once 
a dewy flower. The violets gushed up along 
the wayside. The grass and the grain began to 
sprout with tenfold vigor and luxuriance, to 
make up for the dreary months that had been 
wasted in barrenness. The starved cattle imme 
diately set to work grazing, after their long fast, 
and ate enormously, all day, and got up at mid- 
night to eat more. But I can assure you it was 
a busy time of year with the farmers, when they 
found the summer coming upon them with such 
a rush. Nor must I forget to say, that all the 
birds in the whole world hopped about upon the 
newly-blossoming trees, and sang together, in a 
prodigious ecstasy of joy. 

Mother Ceres had returned to her deserted 
home, and was sitting disconsolately on the door- 
step, with her torch burning in her hand. She 
had been idly watching the flame fo/ some mo- 
ments past, when, all at once, it flickered and 
went out. 

" What does this mean ? " thought she. " It 
was an enchanted torch, and should have kepi 
burning till my child came back." 



THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 269 

Lifting her eyes, she was surprised to see a 
sudden verdure flashing over the brown and 
barren fields, exactly as you may have observed 
a golden hue gleaming far and wide across the 
landscape, from the just risen sun. 

" Does the earth disobey me ? " exclaimed 
Mother Ceres, indignantly. " Does it presume 
to be green, when I have bidden it be barren, 
until my daughter shall be restored to my 
arms ? " 

" Then open your arms, dear mother," cried a 
well-known voice, " and take your little daugh- 
ter into them." 

And Proserpina came running, and flung her- 
self upon her mother's bosom. Their mutual 
transport is not to be described. The grief 
of their separation had caused both of them to 
shed a great many tears; and now they shed 
a great many more, because their joy could not 
so well express itself in any other way. 

When their hearts had grown a little more 
\miet, Mother Ceres looked anxiously at Pro- 
serpina. 

" My child," said sne, ' did you taste any food 
while you were in King Pluto's palace ? " 



270 THE POMEGRANATE SEED*. 

" Dearest mother," answered Proserpina, " i 
will tell you the whole truth. Until this very 
morning, not a morsel of food had passed my 
lips. But to-day, they brought me a pome- 
granate, (a very dry one it was, and all shriv- 
elled up, till there was little left of it but seeds 
and skin,) and having seen no fruit for so long a 
time, and being faint with hunger, I was tempted 
just to bite it. The instant I tasted it, King 
Pluto and Quicksilver came into the room. I 
had not swallowed a morsel ; but — dear mother, 
I hope it was no harm — but six of the pome- 
granate seeds, I am afraid, remained in my 
mouth." 

" Ah, unfortunate child, and miserable me!" 
exclaimed Ceres. " For each of those six pome- 
granate seeds you must spend one month of 
every year in King Pluto's palace. You are but 
half restored to your mother. Only six months 
with me, and six with that good-for-nothing 
King of Darkness!" 

" Do not speak so harshly of poor King Pluto," 
said Proserpina, kissing her mother. " He has 
some very good qualities ; and I redlly think ] 
ran bear to spend six months in his palace, if he 



THF POMEGRANATE SHEDS. 



271 



will only let me spend the other six with you 
He certainly did very wrong to carry me off; but 
then, as he says, it was but a dismal sort of life 
for him, to live in that great gloomy place, all 
alone ; and it has made a wonderful change in 
his spirits to have a little girl to run up stairs 
and down. There is some comfort in making 
him so happy ; and so, upon the whole, dearest 
mother, let us be thankful that he is not to keep 
me the whole year round." 



272 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE 



When Jason, the son of the dethroned King 
of Iolchos, was a little boy, he was sent away 
from his parents, and placed under the queerest 
schoolmaster that ever you heard of. This 
learned person was one of the people, or quadru- 
peds, called Centaurs. He lived in a cavern, 
and had the body and legs of a white horse, 
with the head and shoulders of a man. His 
name was Chiron ; and, in spite of his odd ap- 
pearance, he was a very excellent teacher, and 
had several scholars, who afterwards did him 
credit by making a great figure in the world. 
The famous Hercules was one, and so was 
Achilles, and Philoctetes, likewise, and iEscula- 
pius, who acquired immense repute as a doctor 
The good Chiron taught his pupils how to piay 
upon the harp, and how to cure diseases, and 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 273 

how to use the sword and shield, together with 
vaiious other branches of education, in which 
the lads of those days used to be instructed, in- 
stead (if writing and arithmetic. 

I have sometimes suspected that Master Chi- 
ron was not really very different from other peo- 
ple, but that, being a kind-hearted and merry old 
fellow, he was in the habit of making believe that 
he was a horse, and scrambling about the school 
room on all fours, and letting the little boys ride 
upon his back. And so, when his scholars had 
grown up, and grown old, and were trotting 
their grandchildren on their knees, they told 
them about the sports of their school days ; and 
these young folks took the idea that their grand- 
fathers had been taught their letters by a Cen- 
taur, half man and half horse. Little children, 
not quite understanding what is said to them, 
often get such absurd notions into their heads, 
you know. 

Be that as it may, it has always been told for 
a fact, (and always will be told, as long as the 
world lasts,) that Chiron, with the head of a 
schoolmaster, had the body and legs of a horse. 
Just imagine the grave old gentleman clattering 
/ 18 



274 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

and stamping into the school room on his foui 
hoofs, perhaps treading on some little fellow's 
toes, flourishing his switch tail instead of a rod, 
and, now and then, trotting out of doors to eat 
a mouthful of grass ! I wonder what the black- 
smith charged him for a set of iron shoes. 

So Jason dwelt in the cave, with this four- 
footed Chiron, from the time that he was an 
infant, only a few months old, until he had 
grown to the full height of a man. He became 
a very good harper, I suppose, and skilful in the 
use of weapons, and tolerably acquainted with 
herbs and other doctor's stuff, and, above all, an 
admirable horseman ; for, in teaching young 
people to ride, the good Chiron must have been 
without a rival among schoolmasters. At length, 
being now a tall and athletic youth, Jason re- 
solved to seek his fortune in the world, without 
asking Chiron's advice, or telling him any thing 
about the matter. This was very unwise, to be 
sure ; and 1 hope none of you, my little hearers, 
will ever follow Jason's example. But, you are 
to understand, he had heard how that he himself 
was a prince royal, and how his father, King 
/^Gson, had been deprived of the kingdom of 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



27S 



Iolcho^bj^^ajcertain Pelias, who would also have 
killed Jason, had he not been hidden in the Cen- 
taur's cave. And, bsing come to the strength of 
a man, Jason determined to set all this business 
10 rights, and to punish the wicked Pelias for 
wronging his dear father, and to cast him down 
from the throne, and seat himself there instead. 

With this intention, he took a spear in each 
hand, and threw a leopard's skin over his shoul- 
ders, to keep off the rain, and set forth on his 
travels, with his long yellow ringlets waving in 
the wind. The part of his dress on which he 
most prided himself was a pair of sandals, that 
had been his father's. They were handsomely 
embroidered, and were tied upon his feet with 
strings of gold. But his whole attire was such 
as people did not very often see ; and as he 
passed along, the women and children ran to 
the doors and windows, wondering whither this 
beautiful youth was journeying, with his leop- 
ard's skin and his golden-tied sandals, and what 
heroic deeds he meant to perform, with a spear 
in his right hand and another in his left. 

I know not how far Jason had travelled when 
he came to a turbulent river, which rushed right 



276 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



across his pathway, with specks of white foair 
among its black eddies, hurrying tuinultuously 
onward, and roaring angrily as it went. Though 
not a very broad river in the dry seasons of the 
year, it was now swollen by heavy rains and by 
the melting of the snow on the sides of Mount 
Olympus; and it thundered so loudly, and looked 
so wild and dangerous, that Jason, bold as he 
was, thought it prudent to pause upon the brink. 
The bed of the stream seemed to be strewn with 
sharp and rugged rocks, some of which thrust 
themselves above the water. By and by, an up- 
rooted tree, with shattered branches, came drift- 
ing along the current, and got entangled among 
the rocks. Now and then, a drowned sheep, and 
once the carcass of a cow, floated pasl. 

In short, the swollen river had already done a 
great deal of mischief. It was evidently too 
deep for Jason to wade, and too boisterous for 
him to swim ; he could see no bridge ; and as 
for a boat, had there been any, the rocks would 
have broken it to pieces in an instant. 

" See the poor lad," said a cracked voice c'Jose 
to his side. " He must have had but a poor ed- 
ucation, since he does not know how to cross a 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 277 

little strpam likn this. Or is he afraid of wetting 
his fine golden-stringed sandals ? It is a pity his 
four footed schoolmaster is not here to carry him 
safely across on his back!" 

Jason looked round greatly surprised, for he 
did not know that any body was near. But be- 
side him stood an old woman, with a ragged 
mantle over her head, leaning on a staff, the 
top of which was carved into the shape of a 
cuckoo. She looked very aged, and wrinkled, 
and infirm ; and yet her eyes, which were as 
brown as those of an ox, were so extremely large 
and beautiful, that, when they were fixed on Ja- 
son's eyes, he could see nothing else but them. 
The old woman had a pomegranate in her hand, 
although the fruit was then quite out of season. 

" Whither are you going, Jason ? " she now 
asked. 

She seemed to know his name, you will ob- 
serve ; and, indeed, those great brown eyes looked 
as if they had a knowledge of every thing, 
whether past or to come. While Jason was 
gazing at her, a peacock strutted forward, and 
took his .stand at the old woman's s'de. 

" I im going to lolchos," answered t>ie young 



278 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

man, " to bid the wicked King Pelias coint 
down from my father's throne, and let me reign 
n his stead." 

" Ah, well, then," said the old woman, still 
with the same cracked voice, " if that is all your 
business, you need not be in a very great hurry 
Just take me on your back, there's a good 
youth, and carry me across the river. I and 
my peacock have something to do on the other 
side, as well as yourself." 

" Good mother," replied Jason, " your business 
can hardly be so important as the pulling down 
a king from his throne. Besides, as you may 
see for yourself, the river is very boisterous ; and 
if I should chance to stumble, it would sweep 
both of us away more easily than it has carried 
off yonder uprooted tree. I would gladly help 
you if I could ; but I doubt whether I am strong 
enough to carry you across." 

" Then," said she, very scornfully, " neithei are 
you strong enough to pull King Pelias off his 
throne. And, Jason, unless ycu will he.p an 
old woman at her need, you ought not to be a 
king. What are kings made for, save to succoi 
the feeble and distressed ? But do as you please 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 279 

Either fcutfe me on your back, or with my pool 
old limbs I shall try my best to struggle across 
the stream." 

Saying this, the old woman poked with her 
staff in the river, as if to find the safest place in 
its rocky bed where she might make the first step. 
But Jason, by this time, had grown ashamed of 
his reluctance to help her. He felt that he could 
never forgive himself, if this poor feeble creature 
should come to any harm in attempting to 
wrestle against the headlong current. The good 
Chiron, whether half horse or no, had taught him 
that the noblest use of his strength was to assist 
the weak ; and also that he must treat every 
young woman as if she were his sister, and 
every old one like a mother. Remembering 
these maxims, the vigorous and beautiful young 
man knelt down, and requested the good dame 
to mount upon his back. 

" The passage seems to me not very safe," he 
remarked. " But as your business is so urgent, 
1 will try to carry you across. If the river 
Bweeps you away, it shall take me too." 

" That, no doubt, will be a great comfort to 
both of us," quoth the old woman. " But nevei 
fear. We shall set safelv across." 



280 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

So she threw her arms around Jason's neck; 
and lifting her from the ground, he stepped bold 
ly into the raging and foamy current, and began 
to stagger away from the shore. As for the pea- 
cock, it alighted on the old dame's shoulder. 
Jason's two spears, one in each hand, kept him 
from stumbling, and enabled him to feel his way 
among the hidden rocks ; although, every in- 
stant, he expected that his companion and him- 
self would go down the stream, together with 
the driftwood of shattered trees, and the car- 
casses of the sheep and cow. Down came the 
cold, snowy torrent from the steep side of 
Olympus, raging and thundering as if it had a 
real spite against Jason, or, at all events, were 
determined to snatch off his living burden from 
his shoulders. When he was half way across, 
the uprooted tree (which I have already told you 
about) broke loose from among the rocks, and 
bore down upon him, with all its splintered 
branches sticking out like the hundred arms of the 
giant Briareus. It rushed past, however, without 
touching him. But the next moment, his foot 
was caught in a crevice between two rocks, and 
Btuck there so fast, that, in the effort to get free, 
he lost one of his gold n-stringed sandal*. 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



281 



At this accident Jason could not- help uttering 
a ery of vexation. 

« What is the matter, Jason ? " asked the old 

woman. 

" Matter enough," said the young man. " I 
have lost a sandal here among the rocks. And 
what sort of a figure shall I cut, at the court of 
King Pelias, with a golden-stringed sandal on 
one foot, and the other foot bare ! " 

« Do not take it to heart," answered his com- 
panion, cheerily. " You never met with better 
fortune than in losing that sandal. It satisfies 
me that you ire the very person whom the 
Speaking Oak has been talking about." 

There was no time, just then, to inquire what 
the Speaking Oak had said. But the briskness 
of her tone encouraged the young man; and 
besides, he had never in his life felt so vigorous 
and mighty as since taking this old woman on 
his back. Instead of being exhausted, he gath- 
ered strength as he went on ; and, struggling up 
against the torrent, he at last gained the oppo- 
site shore, clambered up the bank, and set down 
the old dame and her peacock safely on the 
grass. As soon as this was done, however, he 



282 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

could not help looking rather despondently at 
his bare foot, with only a remnant of the golden 
string of the sandal clinging round his ankle. 

" You will get a handsomer pair of sandals 
by and by ," said the old woman, with a kindly 
look out of her beautiful brown eyes. " Only 
let King Pelias get a glimpse of that bare foot, 
and you shall see him turn as pale as ashes, I 
promise you. There is your path. Go along, 
my good Jason, and my blessing go with you. 
And when you sit on your throne, remember the 
old woman whom you helped over the river.' , 

With these words, she hobbled away, giving 
him a smile over her shoulder as she departed. 
Whether the light of her beautiful brown eyes 
threw a glory round about her, or whatever the 
cause might be, Jason fancied that there was 
something very noble and majestic in her figure, 
after all, and that, though her gait seemed to be 
a rheumatic hobble, yet she moved with as much 
grace and dignity as any queen on earth. Hei 
peacock, which had now fluttered down from hei 
shoulder, strutted behind her in prodigious pomp, 
and spread out its magnificent tail on purpose 
for Jason to admire it. 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 283 

When the old dame and her peacock were 
out of sight, Jason set forward on his journey. 
After travelling a pretty long distance, he came 
to a town situated at the foot of a mountain, 
and not a great way from the shore of the sea,. 
On the outside of the town there was an im- 
mense crowd of people, not only men and wo- 
men, but children too, all in their best clothes, 
and evidently enjoying a holiday. The crowd 
was thickest towards the sea shore ; and in that 
direction, over the people's heads, Jason saw a 
wreath of smoke curling upward to the blue 
sky. He inquired of one of the multitude what 
town it was, near by, and why so many persons 
were here assembled togther. 

" This is the kingdom of Iolchos," answered 
the man, " and we are the subjects of King Pe- 
lias. Our monarch has summoned us together, 
that we may see him sacrifice a black bull to 
Neptune, who, they say, is his majesty's father. 
Yonder is the king, where you see the smoke 
going up from the altar." 

While the man spoke he eyed Jason with 
great curiosity ; for his garb was quite unlike that 
of the lolchians, and it looked very odd to see a 



284 THE GOL3DEN FLEECE. 

youth with a leopard's skin over his shoulders, 
and each hand grasping a spear. Jason per- 
ceived, too, that the man stared particularly at 
his feet, one of which, you remember, was bare, 
while the other was decorated with his father's 
golden-stringed sandaL 

"Look at him! only look at him!" said the 
man to his next neighbor. " Do you see ? He 
wears but one sandal! " 

Upon this, first one person, and then another, 
began to stare at Jason, and every body seemed 
to be greatly struck with something in his as- 
pect ; though they turned their eyes much oftener 
towards his feet than to any other part of his 
figure. Besides, he could hear them whispering 
to one another. 

" One sandal ! One sandal ! " they kept say- 
mg. " The man with one sandal ! Here he is 
at last! Whence has he come? What does 
he mean to do ? What will the king say to 
the one-sandalled man ? " 

Poor Jason was greatly abashed, and made up 
his mind that the people of Iolchos -were exceed- 
ingly ill bred, to take such public notice of an 
accidental deficiency in his dress. Meanwhile, 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 285 

whether it were that they hustled him forward, 
or that Jason, of his own accord, thrust a pas- 
sage through the crowd, it so happened that he 
ooon found himself close to the smoking altar 
where King Pelias was sacrificing the black bull. 
The murmur and hum of the multitude, in their 
surprise at the spectacle of Jason with his one bare 
foot, grew so loud that it disturbed the ceremo- 
nies ; and the king, holding the great knife with 
which he was just going to cut the bull's throat, 
turned angrily about, and fixed his eyes on 
Jason. The people had now withdrawn from 
around him, so that the youth stood in an open 
space, near the smoking altar, front to front with 
the angry King Pelias. 

" Who are you ? " cried the king, with a ter- 
rible frown. " And how dare you make this dis- 
turbance, while I am sacrificing a black bull to 
my father Neptune ? " 

" It is no fault of mine," answered Jason. 
" Your majesty must blame the rudeness of your 
subjects, who have raised all this tumult because 
one of my feet happens to be bare." 

When Jason said this, the king gave a quick, 
startled glance down at his feet 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

" Ha ! " muttered he, " here is the one-san- 
dalled fellow, sure enough ! What can I do 
with him?" 

And he clutched more closely the great knife 
in his hand, as if he were half a mind to slay 
Jason, instead of the black bull. The people 
round about caught up the king's words, indis- 
tinctly as they were uttered ; and first there was 
a murmur among them, and then a loud shout. 

" The one-sandalled man has come ! The 
prophecy must be fulfilled ! " 

For you are to know, that, many years before, 
King Pelias had been told by the Speaking Oak 
of Dodona, that a man with one sandal should 
cast him down from his throne. On this ac- 
count, he had given strict orders that nobody 
should ever come into his presence, unless both 
sandals were securely tied upon his feet ; and 
he kept an officer in his palace, whose sole busi- 
ness it was to examine people's sandals, and to 
supply them with a new pair, at the expense of 
the royal treasury, as soon as the old ones began 
to wear out. In the whole course of the king's 
reign, he had never been thrown into such a 
fright and agitation as by the spectacle of pool 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. *&7 

Jason's bare foot. But, as he was naturally a 
bold and hard-hearted man, he soon took cour- 
age, and began to consider in what way he might 
rid himself of this terrible one-sandalled stranger. 

" My good young man," said King Pelias, tak- 
ing the softest tone imaginable, in order to throw 
Jason off his guard, " you are excessively wel- 
come to my kingdom. Judging by your dress, 
you must have travelled a long distance ; for it 
is not the fashion to wear leopard skins in this 
part of the world. Pray what may I call your 
name? and where did you receive your educa- 
tion ? " 

" My name is Jason," answered the young 
stranger. " Ever since my infancy, I have dwelt 
in the cave of Chiron the Centaur. He was my 
instructor, and taught me music, and horseman- 
ship, and how to cure wounds, and likewise how 
to inflict wounds with my weapons ! " 

" I have heard of Chiron the schoolmaster," 
replied King Pelias, " and how that there is an 
immense deal of learning and wisdom in his 
head, although it happens to be set on a horse's 
body. It gives me great delight to see one of 
his scholars at my court. But, to test how much 



288 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

you have profited under so excellent a teachei. 
will you allow me to ask you a single question? " 

" I do not pretend to be very wise," said Jason. 
u But ask me what you please, and I will answer 
to the best of my ability." 

Now King Pelias meant cunningly to entrap 
the young man, and to make him say something 
that should be the cause of mischief and destruc- 
tion to himself. So, with a crafty and evil smile 
upon his face, he spoke as follows: — 

" What would you do, brave Jason," asked he, 
" if there were a man in the world, by whom, as 
you had reason to believe, you were doomed to 
be ruined and slain — what would you do, I say, 
if that man stood before you, and in your 
power ? " 

When Jason saw the malice and wickedness 
which King Pelias could not prevent from gleam- 
ing out of his eyes, he probably guessed that the 
king had discovered what he came for, and that 
he intended to turn his own words against him- 
self. Still he scorned to tell a falsehood. Like 
an upright and honorable prince, as he was, he 
determined to speak out the real truth. Since 
the king had chosen to ask him the question 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



389 



and since Jason had promised him an answer, 
there was no right way, save to tell him precisely 
what would be the most prudent thing to do, if 
he had his worst enemy in his power. 

Therefore, after a moment's consideration, he 
spoke up, with a firm and manly voice. 

" I would send such a man," said he, " in quest 
of the Golden Fleece ! " 

This enterprise, you will understand, was, of 
all others, the most difficult and dangerous in the 
world. In the first place, it would be necessary 
to make a long voyage through unknown seas. 
There was hardly a hope, or a possibility, that 
any young man who should undertake this 
voyage would either succeed in obtaining the 
Golden Fleece, or would survive to return home, 
and tell of the perils he had run. The eyes of 
King Pelias sparkled with joy, therefore, when 
he heard Jason's reply. 

" Well said, wise man with the one sandal ! " 
cried he. " Go, then, and at the peril of your 
life, bring me back the Golden Fleece." 

" I go," answered Jason, composedly. " If 1 
fail, you need not fear that I will ever come back 
to trouble you again. But if I return to Iolchoa 



290 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

with the prize, then, King Pelias, you must 
hasten down from your lofty throne, and give 
me your crown and sceptre." 

" That I will," said the king, with a sneer. 
u Meantime, I will keep them very safely for 
you." 

The first thing that Jason thought of doing, 
after he left the king's presence, was to go to 
Dodona, and inquire of the Talking Oak what 
course it was best to pursue. This wonderful 
tree stood in the centre of an ancient wood. Its 
stately trunk rose up a hundred feet into the air, 
and threw a broad and dense shadow over more 
than an acre of ground. Standing beneath it, 
Jason looked up among the knotted branches 
and green leaves, and into the mysterious heart 
of the old tree, and spoke aloud, as if he were 
addressing some person who was hidden in the 
depths of the foliage. 

" What shall I do," said he, " in order to win 
the Golden Fleece?" 

At first there was a deep silence, not only 
within the shadow of the Talking Oak, but aL 
through the solitary wood. In a moment or two 
kowever, the leaves of the oak began to stir 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 291 

and lustle, as if a gentle breeze were wandering 
amongst them, although the other trees of the 
wood were perfectly still. The sound grew 
louder, and became like the roar of a high 
wind. By and by, Jason imagined that he could 
distinguish words, but very confusedly, because 
each separate leaf of the tree seemed to be a 
tongue, and the whole myriad of tongues were 
babbling at once. But the noise waxed broader 
and deeper, until it resembled a tornado sweep- 
ing through the oak, and making one great 
utterance out of the thousand and thousand of 
little murmurs which each leafy tongue had 
caused by its rustling. And now, though it still 
had the tone of a mighty wind roaring among 
the branches, it was also like a deep bass voice, 
speaking, as distinctly as a tree could be ex- 
pected to speak, the following words; — 

" Go to Argus, the ship builder, and bid him 
build a galley with fifty oars.' , 

Then the voice melted again into the indis- 
tinct murmur of the rustling leaves, and died 
gradually away. When it was quite gone, Ja- 
son felt inclined to doubt whether he had ac- 
tually heard the words, or whether hh fancy had 



292 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



not shaped them out of the ordinary sound made 
by a breeze, while passing through the thick 
foliage of the tree. 

But on inquiry among the people of Iolchos, 
he found that there was really a man in the city, 
by the name of Argus, who was a very skilful 
builder of vessels. This showed some intelli- 
gence in the oak; else how should it have 
known that any such person existed ? At Ja- 
son's request, Argus readily consented to build 
him a galley so big that it should require fifty 
strong men to row it ; although no vessel of such 
a size and burden had heretofore been seen in 
the world. So the head carpenter, and all his 
journeymen and apprentices, began their work ; 
and for a good while afterwards, there they were, 
busily employed, hewing out the timbers, and 
making a great clatter with their hammers ; until 
the new ship, which was called the Argo, seemed 
to be quite ready for sea. And, as the Talking 
Oak had already given him such good advice, 
Jason thought that it would not be amiss to ask 
for a little more. He visited it again, therefore, 
and standing beside its huge, rough trunk, in- 
quired what he should do next. 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE 2^6 

This time, there was no such universal quiver- 
ing of the leaves, throughout the whole tree, as 
there had been before. But after a while, Jason 
observed that the foliage of a great branch which 
stretched above his head had begun to rustle, as 
if the wind were stirring that one bough, while 
all the other boughs of the oak were at rest 

" Cut me off! " said the branch, as soon as it 
could speak distinctly ; " cut me off! cut me off! 
and carve me into a figure head for your galley." 

Accordingly, Jason took the branch at its 
word, and lopped it off the tree. A carver in 
the neighborhood engaged to make the figure 
head. He was a tolerably good workman, and 
had already carved several figure heads, in what 
he intended for feminine shapes, and looking 
pretty much like those which we see nowadays 
stuck up under a vessel's bowsprit, with great 
staring eyes, that never wink at the dash of the 
spray. But (what was very strange) the carver 
found that his hand was guided by some unseen 
power, and by a skill beyond his own, and that 
his tools shaped out an image which he had 
never dreamed of. When the work was finished, 
it turned out to be the figure of a beautiful 



294 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

woman, with a helmet on her head, from beneath 
which the long ringlets fell down upon hei 
shoulders. On the left arm was a shield, and in 
its centre appeared a lifelike representation of 
the head of Medusa with the snaky locks. The 
right arm was extended, as if pointing onward. 
The face of this wonderful statue, though not 
angry or forbidding, was so grave and majestic, 
that perhaps you might call it severe ; and as for 
the mouth, it seemed just ready to unclose its 
lips, and utter words of the deepest wisdom. 

Jason was delighted with the oaken image, 
and gave the carver no rest until it was com- 
pleted, and set up where a figure head has 
always stood, from that time to this, in the ves 
eel's prow. 

" And now," cried he, as he stood gazing at 
the calm, majestic face of the statue, " I must 
go to the Talking Oak, and inquire what next 
to do." 

" There is no need of that, Jason," said a 
voice which, though it was far lower, reminded 
him of the mighty tones of the great oak 
u When you desire good advice, you can s^ek if 
of me." 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 29£ 

Jason had been looking straight into the face 
of the image when these words were spoken. 
But he could hardly believe either his ears or his 
eyes. The truth was, however, that the oaken 
lips had moved, and, to all appearance, the voice 
had proceeded from the statue's mouth. Recov 
ering a little from' his surprise, Jason bethought 
himself that the image had been carved out of 
the wood of the Talking Oak, and that, there- 
fore, it was really no great wonder, but, on the 
contrary, the most natural thing in the world, 
that it should possess the faculty of speech. It 
would have been very odd, indeed, if it had not. 
But certainly it was a great piece of good for- 
tune that he should be able to carry so wise a 
block of wood along with him in his perilous 
voyage. 

" Tell me, wondrous image," exclaimed Jason, 
— "since you inherit the wisdom of the Speak- 
ing Oak of Dodona, whose daughter you are, — 
tell me, where shall I find fifty bold youths, who 
will take each of them an oar of my galley ? 
They must have sturdy arms to row, and brave 
hearts to encounter perih, or we shall never win 
the Golden Fleece." 



296 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

"Go," replied the oaken image, "go. sum- 
mon all the heroes of Greece." 

And, in fact, considering what a great deed 
was to be done, could any advice be wiser than 
this which Jason received from the figure head 
of his vessel ? He lost no time in sending mes- 
sengers to all the cities, and making known to 
the whole people of Greece, that Prince Jason, 
the son of King iEson, was going in quest of 
the Fleece of Gold, and that he desired the help 
of forty-nine of the bravest and strongest young 
men alive, to row his vessel and share his dan- 
gers. And Jason himself would be the fiftieth. 

At this news, the adventurous youths, all over 
the country, began to bestir themselves. Some 
of them had already fought with giants, and 
slain dragons ; and the younger ones, who had 
not yet met with such good fortune, thought 
it a shame to have lived so long without getting 
astride of a flying serpent, or sticking their 
spears into a Chimaera, or, at least, thrusting their 
right arms down a monstrous lion's throat. 
There was a fair prospect that they would meet 
with plenty of such adventures before finding 
the Golden Fleece. As soon as they could fur- 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 297 

bish up their helmets and shields, therefore, and 
gird on th<>ir trusty swords, they came thronging 
to lolchos, and clambered on board the new gal- 
ley. Shaking hands with Jason, they assured 
him that they did not care a pin for their lives, 
but would help row the vessel to the remotest 
edge of the world, and as much farther as he 
might think it best to go. 

Many of these brave fellows had been edu- 
cated by Chiron, the four-footed pedagogue, and 
were therefore old schoolmates of Jason, and 
knew him to be a lad of spirit. The mighty 
Hercules, whose shoulders afterwards held up 
the sky, was one of them. And there were 
Castor and Pollux, the twin brothers, who 
were never accused of being chicken-hearted, 
although they had been hatched out of an egg) 
and Theseus, who was so renowned for killing 
the Minotaur; and Lynceus, with his wonder- 
fully sharp eyes, which could see through a mill- 
stone, or look right down into the depths of the 
earth, and discover the treasures that were there ; 
and Orpheus, the very best of harpers, who sang 
and played upon his lyre so sweetly, that the 
brute beasts stood upon their hird legs, and 



298 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

capered mrrrily to the music. Yes, and at some 
of his more moving tunes, the rocks bestirred 
their moss-grown bulk out of the ground, and a 
grove of forest trees uprooted themselves, and, 
nodding their tops to one another, performed a 
nountry dance. 

One of the rowers was a beautiful young 
woman, named Atalanta, who had been nursed 
among the mountains by a bear. So light of 
foot was this fair damsel, that she could step 
from one foamy crest of a wave to the foamy 
crest of another, without wetting more than 
the sole of her sandal. She had grown up 
in a very wild way, and talked much about 
the rights of women, and loved hunting and 
war far better than her needle. But, in my 
opinion, the most remarkable of this famous 
company were two sons of the North Wind 
(airy youngsters, and of rather a blustering dis- 
position,) who had wings on their shoulders, 
and, in case of a calm, could puff out their 
cheeks, and blow almost as fresh a breeze as 
their father. I ought not to forget the prophets 
and conjurers, of whom there were several in 
the crew, and who could foretell what would 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE 299 

happen to-Liorrow, or the next day, or a aundred 
years hence, btxt were generally quite uncon- 
scious of what was passing at the moment. 

Jason appointed Tiphys to be helmsman, be- 
cause he was a star-gazer, and knew the points 
of the compass. Lynceus, on account of hi** 
sharp sight, was stationed as a lookout in the 
prow, where he saw a whole day's sail ahead, 
but was rather apt to overlook things that lay 
directly under his nose. If the sea only hap- 
pened to be deep enough, however, Lynceus 
could tell you exactly what kind of rocks or 
sands were at the bottom of it; and he often 
cried out to his companions, that they were 
sailing over heaps of sunken treasure, which 
yet he was none the richer for beholding. To 
confess the truth, few people believed him when 
he said it. 

Well! But when the Argonauts, as these 
fifty brave adventurers were called, had prepared 
every thing for the voyage, an unforeseen diffi- 
culty threatened to end it before it was begun. 
The vessel, you must understand, was so long, 
and broad, and ponderous, that the united force 
of all the fifty was insufficient to shove her into 



300 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

the water. Hercules, I suppose, had not grown 
to his full strength, else he might have set hei 
afloat as easily as a little boy launches his boat 
upon a puddle. But here were these fifty heroeSj 
pushing, and straining, and growing red in the 
face, without making the Argo start an inch. 
At last, quite wearied out, they sat themselves 
down on the shore, exceedingly disconsolate, and 
thinking that the vessel must be left to rot and 
fall in pieces, and that they must either swim 
across the sea or lose the Golden Fleece. 

All at once, Jason bethought himself of the 
galley's miraculous figure head. 

" O, daughter of the Talking Oak," cried he, 
" how shall we set to work to get our vessel into 
the water?" 

" Seat yourselves," answered the image, (fcr it 
had known what had ought to be done from the 
very first, and was only waiting for the question 
to be put,) — " seat yourselves, and handle your 
oars, and let Orpheus play upon his harp." 

Immediately the fifty heroes got on board, and 
seizing their oars, held them perpendicularly in 
the air, while Orpheus (who liked such a task 
far better than rowing) swept his fingers across 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



301 



the harp. At the first ringing note of the music, 
they felt the vessel stir. Orpheus thrummed 
away briskly, and the galley slid at once into the 
sea, dipping her prow so deeply that the figure 
head drank the wave with its marvellous lips, 
and rising again as buoyant as a swan. The 
rowers plied their fifty oars ; the white foam 
boiled up before the prow ; the water gurgled 
and bubbled in their wake ; while Orpheus con- 
tinued to play so lively a strain of music, that 
the vessel seemed to dance over the billows by 
way of keeping time to it. Thus triumphantly 
did the Argo sail out of the harbor, amidst the 
huzzas and good wishes of every body except 
the wicked old Pelias, who stood on a promon- 
tory, scowling at her, and wishing that he could 
blow out of his lungs the tempest of wrath that 
was in his heart, and so sink the galley with all 
on board. When they had sailed abcve fifty 
miles over the sea, Lynceus happened to cast his 
sharp eyes behind, and said that there was this 
bad-hearted king, still perched upon the promon- 
tory, and scowling so gloomily that it looked 
like a bxack thunder cloud in that quarter of the 
horizon 



302 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

In order to make the time pass away more 
pleasantly during the voyage, the heroes talked 
about the Golden Fleece. It originally belonged, 
it appears, to a Boeotian ram, who had taken on 
his back two children, when in danger of their 
lives, and fled with them over land and sea, as fai 
as Colchis. One of the children, whose name 
was Helle, fell into the sea and was drowned. 
But the other, (a little boy, named Phrixus) was 
brought safe ashore by the faithful ram, who 
however, was so exhausted that he immediately 
lay down and died. In memory of this good 
deed, and as a token of his true heart, the fleece 
of the poor dead ram was miraculously changed 
to gold, and became one of the most beautiful 
objects ever seen on earth. It was hung upon a 
tree in a sacred grove, where it had now been 
kept I know not how many years, and was the 
envy of mighty kings, who had nothing so mag- 
nificent in any of their palaces. 

If I were to tell you all the adventures of the 
Argonauts, it would take me till nightfall, and 
perhaps a great deal longer. There was no acK 
of wonderful events, as you may judge from what 
you have already heard. At a certain island 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



303 



they were hospitably received by King Cyzicus, 
its sovereign, who made a feast for them, and 
treated them like brothers. But the Argonauts 
saw that this good king looked downcast and 
very much troubled, and they therefore inquired 
of him what was the matter. King Cyzicus 
hereupon informed them that he and his subjects 
were greatly abused and incommoded by the 
inhabitants of a neighboring mountain, who 
made war upon them, and killed many people, 
and ravaged the country. And while they were 
talking about it, Cyzicus pointed to the moun- 
tain, and asked Jason and his companions what 
they saw there. 

" I see some very tall objects," answered Ja- 
son ; " but they are at such a distance that I 
cannot distinctly make out what they are. To 
tell your majesty the truth, they look so very 
strangely that I am inclined to think them 
clouds, which have chanced to take something 
like human shapes." 

" I see them very plainly," remarked Lynceus, 
ivhose eyes, you know, were as far sighted aa 
a telescope. " They are a band of enormous 
giants, all of whom have six arms apiece, and a 



304 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

club, a sword, or some other weapon in each 
of their hands." 

" You have excellent eyes," said King Cyzicus. 
" Yes ; they are six armed giants, as you say, 
and these are the enemies whom I and my 
subjects have to contend with." 

The next day, when the Argonauts were about 
setting sail, down came these terrible giants, 
stepping a hundred yards at a stride, brandish- 
ing their six arms apiece, and looking very for- 
midable, so far aloft in the air. Each of these 
monsters was able to carry on a whole war by 
himself, for with one of his arms he could fling 
immense stones, and wield a club with another, 
and a sword with a third, while the fourth was 
poking a long spear at the enemy, and the fifth 
and sixth were shooting him with a bow and 
arrow. But, luckily, though the giants were so 
huge, and had so many arms, they had each 
but one heart, and that no bigger nor braver 
than the heart of an ordinary man. Besides, if 
they had been like the hundred-armed Briareus, 
the brave Argonauts would have given them their 
hands full of fight. Jason and his friends went 
boldly to meet them, slew a great many, and 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 305 

made the rest take to their heels, so that, if the 
giants had had six legs apiece instead of six 
arms, it would have served them better to run 
away with. 

Another strange adventure happened when 
the voyagers came to Thrace, where they found 
a poor blind king, named Phineus, deserted by 
his subjects, and living in a very sorrowful way, 
all by himself. On Jason's inquiring whether 
they could do him any service, the king answered 
that he was terribly tormented by three great 
winged creatures, called Harpies, which had the 
faces of women, and the wings, bodies, and 
claws of vultures. These ugly wretches were in 
the habit of snatching away his dinner, and al- 
lowed him no peace of his life. Upon hearing 
this, the Argonauts spread a plentiful feast on 
the sea shore, well knowing, from what the blind 
king said of their greediness, that the Harpies 
would snuff up the scent of the victuals, and 
quickly come to steal them away. And so it 
turned out; for, hardly was the table set, before 
the three hideous vulture women came flapping 
their wings, seized the food in their talons, and 
flew oft' as fast as they could. But the two pons 
20 



306 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

of the North Wind drew their swords, spread 
their pinions, and set off through the air in pur- 
suit of the thieves, whom they at last overtook 
among some islands, after a chase of hundreds 
of miles. The two winged youths blustered 
terribly at the Harpies, (for they had the rough 
temper of their father,) and so frightened them 
with their drawn swords, that they solemnly 
promised never to trouble King Phineus again. 
Then the Argonauts sailed onward, and met 
with many other marvellous incidents, any one 
of which would make a story by itself. At one 
time, they landed on an island, and were reposing 
on the grass, when they suddenly found them- 
selves assailed by what seemed a shower of 
steel-headed arrows. Some of them stuck in 
the ground, while others hit against their shields, 
and several penetrated their flesh. The fifty 
heroes started up, and looked about them for the 
hidden enemy, but could find none, nor see any 
spot, on the whole island, where even a single 
archer could lie concealed. Still, however, the 
steel-headed arrows came whizzing among them ; 
and, at last, happening to look upward, they 
beheld a large flock of birds, hovering and wheel- 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 307 

ing aloft, and shooting their feathers down upon 
the Argonauts. These feathers were the steel- 
headed arrows that had so tormented them. 
There was no possibility of making any resist- 
ance; and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all 
have been killed or wounded by a flock of 
troublesome birds, without ever setting eyes on 
the Golden Fleece, if Jason had not thought 
of asking the advice of the oaken image. 

So he ran to the galley as fast as his legs 
would carry him. 

" O, daughter of the Speaking Oak," cried he, 
ail out of breath, " we need your wisdom more 
than ever before ! We are in great peril from a 
flock of birds, who are shooting us with their 
steel-pointed feathers. What can we do to 
drive them away ? " 

" Make a clatter on your shields," said the 
image. 

On receiving this excellent counsel, Jason 
hurried back to his companions, (who weie far 
more dismayed than when they fought with the 
six-armed giants,) and bade them strike with 
theu swords upon their brazen shields. Forth- 
with the fifty heroes set heartily to work, bang* 



308 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

ing with might and main, and raised such a 
terrible clatter, that the birds made what haste 
they could to get away; and though they 
had shot half the feathers out of their wings, 
they were soon seen skimming among the 
clouds, a long distance off, and looking like a 
flock of wild geese. Orpheus celebrated this 
victory by playing a triumphant anthem on his 
harp, and sang so melodiously that Jason begged 
him to desist, lest, as the steel-feathered birds 
had been driven away by an ugly sound, they 
might be enticed back again by a sweet one. 
While the Argonauts remained on this island, 
they saw a small vessel approaching the shore, 
in which were two young men of princely de- 
meanor, and exceedingly handsome, as young 
princes generally were, in those da}'s. Now. 
who do you imagine these two voyagers turned 
out to be ? Why, if you will believe me, they 
were the sons of that very Phrixus, who, in hia 
rhildhood, had been carried to Colchis on the 
back of the golden-fleeced ram. Since that 
time, Phrixus had married the king's daughter ; 
and the two young princes had been born and 
Srought up at Colchis, and had spent their play 



1LIE GOLDEN FLEECE. 309 

days in the outskirts of the grove, in the centre 
of which the Golden Fleece was hanging upon 
a tree. They were now on their way to Greece, 
in hopes of getting back a kingdom that had 
been wrongfully taken from their father. 

When the princes understood whither the 
Argonauts were going, they offered to turn back, 
and guide them to Colchis. At the same time, 
however, they spoke as if it were very doubtful 
whether Jason would succeed in getting the 
Golden Fleece. According to their account, the 
tree on which it hung was guarded by a terri- 
ble dragon, who never failed to devour, at one 
mouthful, every person who might venture with- 
in his reach. 

" There are other difficulties in the way," con- 
tinued the young princes. " But is not this 
enough ? Ah, brave Jason, turn back before it 
is too late. It would grieve us to the heart, if 
you and your nine and forty brave companions 
should hi eaten up, at fifty mouthfuls, by this 
execrable dragon." 

" My young friends," quietly replied Jason, 
11 1 do not wonder that you think the dragon 
very terrible* You have grown up from infancy 



310 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

in the fear of this monster, and therefore still re- 
gard him with the awe that children feel for the 
bugbears and hobgoblins which their nurses 
have talked to them about. But, in my view 
of the matter, the dragon is merely a pretty large 
serpent, who is not half so likely to snap me up 
at one mouthful as I am to cut off his ugly 
head, and strip the skin from his body. At all 
events, turn back who may, I will never see 
Greece again, unless I carry with me the Golden 
Fleece." 

" We will none of us turn back ! " cried his 
nine and forty brave comrades. " Let us get on 
board the galley this instant ; and if the dragon 
is to make a breakfast of us, much good may it 
do him." 

And Orpheus (whose custom it was to set 
every thing to music) began to harp and sing 
most gloriously, and made every mother's son of 
them feel as if nothing in this world were so de- 
lectable as to fight dragons, and nothing so truly 
honorable as to be eaten up at one mouthful, in 
case of the worst. 

After this, (being now under the guidance of 
the two princes, who were well acquainted with 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. Jill 

the way,) they quickly sailed to Colchis. When 
the king of the country, whose name was ^Eetes, 
heard of their arrival, he instantly summoned 
Tason to court. The king was a stern and cruel- 
looking potentate ; and though he put on as 
polite and hospitable an expression as he could, 
Jason did not like his face a whit better th* -■• 
that of the wicked King Pelias, who dethroned 
his father. 

" You are welcome, brave Jason," said Kin^ 
<33etes. u Pray, are you on a pleasure voyage ? 

— or do you meditate the discovery of unknown 
islands ? — or what other cause has procured m*> 
the happiness of seeing vou at mv court ? " 

" Great sir," replied Jason, with an obeisanct., 

— for Chiron had taught him how to behave 
with propriety, whether to kings or beggars, — 
u I have come hither with a purpose which I 
now beg your majesty's permission to execute. 
King Pelias, who sits on my father's throne, (to 
which he has no more right than to the one on 
which your excellent majesty is now seated,) haa 
engaged to come down from it, and to give me 
his crown and sceptre, provided I bring him the 
Golden Fleece This, as your majesty is aware, 



312 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

is now hanging on a tree here at Colchis ; and 
I humbly solicit your gracious leave to take it 
away." 

In spite of himself, the king's face twisted it- 
self into an angry frown ; for, above all things 
else in the world, he prized the Golden Fleece, 
and was even suspected of having done a very 
wicked act, in order to get it into his own pos- 
session. It put him into the worst possible hu- 
mor, therefore, to hear that the gallant Prince 
Jason, and forty-nine of the bravest young war- 
riors of Greece, had come to Colchis with the 
sole purpose of taking away his chief treasure. 

" Do you know," asked King iEetes, eying 
Jason very sternly, " what are the conditions 
which you must fulfil before getting possession 
of the Golden Fleece ? " 

" I have heard," rejoined the youth, " that a 
dragon lies beneath the tree on which the prize 
hangs, and that whoever approaches him runs 
the risk of being devoured at a mouthful." 

" True," said the king, with a smile that did 
not look particularly good natured. "Very true, 
young man. But there are other things as 
hard, or perhaps a little harder, to be done, 



THE uOLDEN FLEECE. UVd 

before you can even have the privilege of being 
devoured by the dragon. For example, you 
must first tame my two brazen-footed and bra- 
zen-lunged bulls, which Vulcan, the wonderful 
blacksmith, made for me. There is a furnace in 
each of their stomachs ; and they breathe such 
hot fire out of their mouths and nostrils, that no- 
body has hitherto gone nigh them without being 
instantly burned to a small, black cinder. What 
do you think of this, my brave Jason ? " 

" I must encounter the peril," answered Jason, 
composedly, " since it stands in the way of my 
purpose." 

" After taming the fiery bulls," continued King 
iEetes, who was determined to scare Jason if 
possible, " you must yoke them to a plough, and 
must plough the sacred earth in the grove of 
Mars, and sow soms of the same dragon's teeth 
from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed 
men. They are an unruly set of reprobates, 
those sons of the dragon's teeth ; and unless 
you treat them suitably, they will fall upon you 
sword in hand. You and your nine and forty 
Argonauts, my bold Jason, are hardly numerous 
or strong enough to fight with such a host aa 
will spring up." 



814 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

" My master Chiron," replied Jason, " taughl 
me, long ago, the story of Cadmus. Perhaps 1 
can manage the quarrelsome sons of the drag- 
on's teeth as well as Cadmus did." 

" I wish the dragon had him," muttered King 
iEetes to himself, " and the four-footed pedant, 
his schoolmaster, into the bargain. Why, what a 
foolhardy, self-conceited coxcomb he is ! We'll 
see what my fire-breathing bulls will do for him. 
Well, Prince Jason," he continued, aloud, and as 
complaisantly as he could, " make yourself com- 
fortable for to-day, and to-morrow morning, since 
you insist upon it, you shall try your skill at 
the plough." 

While the king talked with Jason, a beautiful 
young woman was standing behind the throne. 
She fixed her eyes earnestly upon the youthful 
stranger, and listened attentively to every word 
that was spoken ; and when Jason withdrew 
from the king's presence, this young woman 
followed him out of the room. 

" I am the king's daughter," she said to him, 
" and my name is Medea. I know a great deal 
of which other young princes&es are ignorant, 
and can do many things which they would bt 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 315 

afraid so much as to dream of. If you will 
trust to me, I can instruct you how to tame the 
fiery bulls, and sow the dragon's teeth, and get 
the Golden Fleece." 

" Indeed, beautiful princess," answered Jason, 
" il you will do me this service, I promise to be 
grateful to you my whole life long." 

Gazing at Medea, he beheld a wonderful in- 
telligence in her face. She was one of those 
persons whose eyes are full of mystery ; so that, 
while looking into them, you seem to see a very 
great way, as into a deep well, yet can never be 
certain whether you see into the farthest depths, 
or whether there be not something else hidden 
at the bottom. If Jason had been capable of 
fearing any thing, he would have been afraid of 
making this young princess his enemy ; for, 
beautiful as she now looked, she might, the very 
next instant, become as terrible as the dragon 
that kept watch over the Golden Fleece. 

" Princess," he exclaimed, " you seem indeed 
very wise and very powerful. But how can 
you help me to do the things of which you 
speak ? Are you an enchantress ? " 

11 Yes, Prince Jason," answered Medea with a 



316 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

smile, " you have hit upon the truth. I ain an 
enchantress. Circe, my father's sister, taught 
me to be one, and I could tell you, if I pleased, 
who was the old woman with the peacock, the 
pomegranate, and the cuckoo staff, whom you 
carried over the river; and, likewise, who it is 
that speaks through the lips of the oaken image, 
that stands in the prow of your galley. I am 
acquainted with some of your secrets, you per- 
ceive. It is well for you that I am favorably 
inclined ; for, otherwise, you would hardly es- 
cape being snapped up by the dragon." 

" I should not so much care for the dragon," 
replied Jason, " if I only knew how to manage 
the brazen-footed and fiery-lunged bulls." 

u If you are as brave as I think you, and as 
you have need to be," said Medea, " your own 
bold heart will teach you that there is but one 
way of dealing with a mad bull. What it is 
I leave you to find out in the moment of peril. 
As for the fiery breath of these animals, I have 
a charmed ointment here, which will prevent 
you from being burned up, and cure you if you 
chance to be a little scorched." 

So she put a golden box into his hand, and 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 317 

directed him how to apply the perfumed un- 
guent which it contained, and where to meet her 
at midnight 

" Only be brave," added she, " and before 
daybreak the brazen bulls shall be tamed." 

The young man assured her that his heart 
would not fail him. He then rejoined his com- 
rades, and told them what had passed between 
the princess and himself, and warned them to 
be in readiness in case there might be need of 
their help. 

At the appointed hour he met the beautiful 
Medea on the marble steps of the king's palace. 
She gave him a basket, in which were the drag- 
on's teeth, just as they had been pulled out of the 
monster's jaws by Cadmus, long ago. Medea 
then led Jason down the palace steps, and 
through the silent streets of the city, and into 
the royal pasture ground, where the two brazen 
footed bulls were kept. It was a starry night, 
with a bright gleam along the eastern edge of 
the sky, where the moon was soon going to show 
herself. After entering the pasture, the princess 
paused and looked around. 

" There they are," said she, " reposing them- 



318 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

selves and chewing their fiery cuds in that farthest 
corner of the field. It will be excellent sport, I 
assure you, when they catch a glimpse of your 
figure. My father and all his court delight in 
nothing so much as to see a stranger trying to 
yoke them, in order to come at the Golden 
Fleece. It makes a holiday in Colchis when- 
ever such a thing happens. For my part, I enjoy 
it immensely. You cannot imagine in what a 
mere twinkling of an eye their hot breath shriv- 
els a young man into a black cinder." 

" Are you sure, beautiful Medea," asked Ja- 
son, u quite sure, that the unguent in the gold 
box will prove a remedy against those terrible 
burns ? " 

" If you doubt, if you are in the least afraid," 
said the princess, looking him in the face by 
the dim starlight, "you had better never have 
been born than go a step nigher to the bulls." 

But Jason had set his heart steadfastly on 
getting the Golden Fleece ; and I positively 
doubt whether he would have gone back without 
it, even had he been certain of finding himself 
turned into a red-hot cinder, or a handful of 
white ashes, the instant he made a step farther 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 319 

He therefore let go Medea's hand, and walked 
boldly forward in the direction whither she had 
pointed. At some distance before him he per 
ceived four streams of fiery vapor, regularly ap- 
pearing, and again vanishing, after dimly lighting 
up the surrounding obscurity. These, you will 
understand, were caused by the breath of the 
brazen bulls, which was quietly stealing out of 
their four nostrils, as they lay chewing theii 
cuds. 

At the first two or three steps which Jason 
made, the four fiery streams appeared to gush 
out somewhat more plentifully ; for the two 
brazen bulls had heard his foot tramp, and were 
lifting up their hot noses to snuff the air. He 
went a little farther, and by the way in which 
the red vapor now spouted forth, he judged that 
the creatures had got upon their feet. Now he 
could see glowing sparks, and vivid jets of flame 
At the next step, each of the bulls made the 
pasture echo with a terrible roar, while the burn- 
ing breath, which they thus belched forth, lit up 
the whole field with a momentary flash. One 
other stride did bold Jason make ; and, sudden- 
ly, as a streak of lightning, on came these fier) 



320 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

animals, roaring like thunder, and sending on 
sheets of white flame, which so kindled up the 
scene that the young man could discern every 
object more distinctly than by daylight. Most 
distinctly of all he saw the two horrible creatures 
galloping right down upon him, their brazen 
hoofs rattling and ringing over the ground, and 
their tails sticking up stiffly into the air, as has 
always been the fashion with angry bulls. Their 
breath scorched the herbage before them. So 
intensely hot it was, indeed, that, it caught a dry 
tree, under which Jason was now standing, and 
set it all in a light blaze. But as for Jason him- 
self, (thanks to Medea's enchanted ointment,) 
the white flame curled around his body, without 
injuring him a jot more than if he h.ad been 
made of asbestos. 

Greatly encouraged at finding himself not yet 
turned into a cinder, the young man awaited the 
attack of the bulls. Just as the brazen brutes 
fancied themselves sure of tossing him into the 
air, he caught one of them by the horn, and the 
other by his screwed-up tail, and held them in a 
gripe like that of an iron vice, one with his right 
hand, the other with his left. Well, he must 



TMi: GOLDEN FLEECE. 321 

have been wonderfully strong in his arms, to bo 
sure. But the secret of the matter was, that the 
brazen bulls were enchanted creatures, and that 
Jason had broken the spell of their fiery fierce- 
ness by his bold way of handling them. And, 
ever since that time, it has been the favorite 
method of brave men, when danger assails them, 
to do what they call « taking the bull by the 
horns ; " and to gripe him by the tail is pretty 
much the same thing — that is, to throw aside 
fear, and overcome the peril by despising it. 
It was now easy to yoke the bulls, and to har- 
ness them to the plough, which had lain rusting 
on the ground for a great many years gone by ; 
so long was it before any body could be found 
capable of ploughing that piece of land. Jason, 
I suppose, had been taught how to draw a fur- 
row by the good old Chiron, who, perhaps, used 
to allow himself to be harnessed to the plough. 
At any rate, our hero succeeded perfectly well in 
breaking up the greensward ; and, by the time 
that the moon was a quarter of 'her journey up 
the sky, the ploughed field lay before him, a 
large tract of black earth, read} to be sown with 
the dragon's teeth. So Jason scattered their 
21 



322 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

broadcast, and harrowed them into the soil with 
a brush-harrow, and took his stand on the edge 
of the field, anxious to see what would happen 
next. 

" Must we wait long for harvest time," he 
inquired of Medea, who was now standing by 
his side. 

" Whether sooner or later, it will be sure to 
come," answered the princess. "A crop of 
armed men never fails to spring up, when the 
dragon's teeth have been sown." 

The moon was now high aloft in the heavens, 
and threw its bright beams over the ploughed 
field, where as yet there was nothing to be seen. 
Any farmer, on viewing it, would have said that 
Jason *?.nst wait weeks before the green blades 
would peep from among the clods, and whole 
months before the yellow grain would be ripened 
for the sickle. But by and by, all over the field, 
there was something that glistened in the moon- 
beams, like sparkling drops of dew. These 
bright objects -sprouted higher, and proved to be 
the steel heads of spears. Then there was a 
dazzling gleam from a vast number of polished 
brass he^nets, beneath which, as they grew 



TF»6 GOLDEN FLEECE'. 323 

farther out of the soil, appeared the dark and 
bearded visages of warriors, struggling to free 
themselves from the imprisoning earth. The first 
look that they gave at the upper world was a 
glare of wrath and defiance. Next were seen their 
bright breastplates ; in every right hand there 
was a sword or a spear, and on each left arm a 
shield ; and when this strange crop of warriors 
had but half grown out of the earth, they strug- 
gled, — such was their impatience of restraint, — 
and, as it were, tore themselves up by the roots. 
Wherever a dragon's tooth had fallen, there 
stood a man armed for battle. They made a 
clangor with their swords against their shields, 
and eyed one another fiercely ; for they had 
come into this beautiful world, and into the 
peaceful moonlight, full of rage and stormy pas- 
sions, and ready to take the life of every human 
brother, in recompense of the boon of their own 
existence. 

There have been many other armies in the 
world that seemed to possess the same fierce na- 
ture with the one which had now sprouted from 
the dragon's teeth* but these, in I he moonlit 
held, were the more excusable, because they 



324 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

never had women for their mothers. And how it 
would have rejoiced any great captain, who was 
bent on conquering the world, like Alexander or 
Napoleon, to raise a crop of armed soldiers aa 
easily as Jasoi, did ! 

For a while, the warriors stood flourishing 
their weapons, clashing their swords against their 
shields, and boiling over with the red-hot thirst 
for battle. Then they began to shout — "Show 
us the enemy ! Lead us to the charge ! Death 
or victory ! Come on, brave comrades ! Con- 
quer or die ! " and a hundred other outcries, 
such as men always bellow forth on a battle field, 
and which these dragon people seemed to have 
at their tongues' ends. At last, the front rank 
caught sight of Jason, who, beholding the flash 
of so many weapons in the moonlight, had 
thought it best to draw his sword. In a moment 
all the sons of the dragon's teeth appeared to 
take Jason for an enemy ; and crying with one 
voice, " Guard the Golden Fleece ! " they ran at 
him with uplifted swords and protruded spears. 
Jason knew that it would be impossible to with- 
stand this bloodthirsty battalion with his single 
arm, but determined, since there was nothing 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 325 

better to hi done, to die as valiantly as if he 
himself had sprung from a dragon's tooth. 

Medea, however, uade him snatch up a stone 
from the ground. 

" Throw it among them quickly ! " cried she. 
" It is the only way to save yourself." 

The armed men were now so nigh that Jason 
could discern the fire flashing out of their en- 
raged eyes, wnen he let fly the stone, and saw 
it strike the helmet of a tall warrior, who was 
rushing upon him with his blade aloft. The 
stone glanced from this man's helmet to the 
shield of his nearest comrade, and thence flew 
right into the angry face of another, hitting him 
smartly between the eyes. Each of the three who 
had been struck by the stone took it for granted 
that his next neighbor had given him a blow; 
and instead of running any farther towards 
Jason, they began a fight among themselves. 
The confusion spread through the host, so that 
it seemed scarcely a moment before they were 
all hacking, hewing, and stabbing at one another, 
lopping off arms, heads, and legs, and doing such 
memorable deeds that Jason was filled with im- 
mense admiration ; although, at the same time, 



326 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

he could not help laughing to behold these mighty 
men punishing each other for an offence which 
he himself had committed. In an incredibly 
short space of time, (almost as short, indeed, as 
it had taken them to grow up,) all but one of 
the heroes of the dragon's teeth were stretched 
lifeless on the field. The last survivor, the bra- 
vest and strongest of the whole, had just force 
enough to wave his crimson sword over his head, 
and give a shout of exultation, crying, " Victory ! 
Victory ! Immortal fame ! " when he himself fell 
down, and lay quietly among his slain brethren. 

And there was the end of the army tnat had 
sprouted from the dragon's teeth. That fierce 
and feverish fight was the only enjoyment which 
they had tasted on this beautiful earth. 

" Let them sleep in the bed of honor,*' said 
the Princess Medea, with a sly smile at Jason. 
" The world will always have simpletons enough, 
just like them, fighting and dying for they know 
not what, and fancying that posterity will take 
the trouble to put lau.rel wreaths on their rusty 
and battered helmets. Could you help smiling, 
Prince Jason, to see the self-conceit of that last 
fellow, just as he tumbled down ? " 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 327 

•• It made me very sad," answered Jason, 
gravely. " And, to tell you the truth, princess, 
the Golden Fleece does not appear so well worth 
the winning, after what I have here beheld." 

" You will think differently in the morning," 
Baid Medea. " True, the Golden Fleece may 
not be so valuable as you have thought it ; but 
then there is nothing better in the world; and 
one must needs have an object, you know. 
Come! Your night's work has been well per- 
formed ; and to-morrow you can inform King 
^Eetes that the first part of your allotted task is 
fulfilled." 

Agreeably to Medea's advice, Jason went be- 
times in the morning to the palace of King 
iEetes. Entering the presence chamber, he stood 
at the foot of the throne, and made a low obei- 
sance. 

" Your eyes look heavy, Prince Jason," ob- 
served the king ; " you appear to have spent 8 
sleepless night. I hope you have been consider- 
ing the matter a little more wisely, and have 
concluded not to get yourself scorched to a cin- 
der, in attempting to tame my brazen-lunged 
bulls." 



328 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

M That is already accomplished, may it please 
your majesty," replied Jason. " The bulls have 
been tamed and yoked ; the field has been 
ploughed ; the dragon's teeth have been sown 
broadcast, and harrowed into the soil ; the crop 
of armed warriors have sprung up, and they 
have slain one another, to the last man. And 
now I solicit your majesty's permission to en- 
counter the dragon, that I may take down the 
Golden Fleece from the tree, and depart, with 
my nine and forty comrades." 

King ^Eetes scowled, and looked very angry 
and excessively disturbed; for he knew that, in 
accordance with his kingly promise, he ought 
now to permit Jason to win the fleece, if his 
courage and skill should enable him to do so 
But, since the young man had met with such 
good luck in the matter of the brazen bulls and 
the dragon's teeth, the king feared that he would 
be equally successful in slaying the dragon 
And therefore, though he would gladly have 
seen Jason snapped up at a mouthful, he was 
resolved (and it was a very wrong thing of this 
wicked potentate) not to run any further risk of 
losing his beloved fleece. 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 329 

<( jTou never would have succeeded in this 
business, young man," said he, ''if my undutiful 
daughter Medea had not helped you with her 
enchantments. Had you acted fairly, you would 
have been, at this instant, a black cinder, or a 
handful of white ashes. I forbid you, on pain 
of death, to make any more attempts to get the 
Golden Fleece. To speak my mind plainly, you 
shall never set eyes on so much as one of its 
glistening locks." 

Jason left the king's presence in great sorrow 
and anger. He could think of nothing better to 
be done than to summon together his forty-nine 
brave Argonauts, march at once to the grove of 
Mars, slay the dragon, take possession of the 
Golden Fleece, get on board the Argo, and 
spread all sail for Iolchos. The success of this 
scheme depended, it is true, on the doubtful point 
whether all the fifty heroes might not be snapped 
up, at so many mouthfuls, by the dragon. But, 
as Jason was hastening down the palace steps, 
the Princess Medea called after him, and beck- 
oned him to return. Her black eyes shone upon 
him with such a keen intelligence, that he felt as 
if there were a serpent peeping out of them ; and, 



330 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

although she had done him so much service only 
the night before, he was by no means very certain 
that she would not do him an equally great mis- 
chief before sunset. These enchantresses, you 
must know, are never to be depended upon. 

" What says King iEetes, my royal and up- 
right father ? " inquired Medea, slighty smiling. 
" Will he give you the Golden Fleece, without 
any further risk or trouble ? " 

" On the contrary," answered Jason, " he is 
very angry with me for taming the brazen bulls 
and sowing the dragon's teeth. And he forbids 
me to make any more attempts, and positively 
refuses to give up the Golden Fleece, whether I 
slay the dragon or no.'' 

" Yes, Jason," said the princess, " and I can 
tell you more. Unless you set sail from Colchis 
before to-morrow's sunrise, the king means to 
burn your fifty-oared galley, and put yourself 
and your forty-nine brave comrades to the sword. 
But be of good courage. The Golden Fleece 
you shall have, if it lies within the power of my 
enchantments to get it for you. Wait for me 
here an hour before midnight." 

At the appointed hour, you might again have 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 331 

seen Prince Jason and the Princess Medea, side 
by side, stealing through the streets of Colchis, 
on their way to the sacred grove, in the centre 
of which the Golden Fleece was suspended to 
a tree. While they were crossing the pasture 
ground, the brazen bulls came towards Jason, 
lowing, nodding their heads, and thrusting forth 
their snouts, which, as other cattle do, they loved 
to have rubbed and caressed by a friendly hand. 
Their fierce nature was thoroughly tamed ; and, 
with their fierceness, the two furnaces in their 
stomachs had likewise been extinguished, inso- 
much that they probably enjoyed far more com- 
fort in grazing and chewing their cuds than ever 
before. Indeed, it had heretofore been a great 
inconvenience to these poor animals, that, when- 
ever the^^ished to eat a mouthful of grass, the 
fire oxxWm their nostrils had shrivelled it up, 
before they could manage to crop it. How they 
contrived to keep themselves alive is more than 
I can imagine. But now, instead of emitting 
jets of^ame and streams of sulphurous vapor, 
they breathed the very sweetest of cow breath. 
After kindly patting the bulls, Jason followed 
Medea's guidance into the Grove of Mars, where 
the great oak trees, that had been growing fnf 



332 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

centuries, threw so thick a shade that the moon- 
beams struggled vainly to find their way through 
it. Only here and there a glimmer fell upon the 
leaf-strewn earth, or now and then a breeze 
stirred the boughs aside, and gave Jason a 
glimpse of the sky, lest, in that deep obscurity, 
he might forget that there was one, overhead 
At length, when they had gone farther and far- 
ther into the heart of the duskiness, Medea 
squeezed Jason's hand. 

" Look yonder," she whispered. " Do you 
Ree it?" 

Gleaming among the venerable oaks, there 
was a radiance, not like the moonbeams, but 
rather resembling the golden glory of the setting 
sun. It proceeded from an object, which ap- 
peared to be suspended at about a man's height 
from the ground, a little farther within the wood. 

" What is it ? " asked Jason. 

" Have you come so far to seek it," exclaimed 
Medea, "and do you not recognize the meed of 
all your toils and perils, when -it g itteW before 
your eyes ? It is the Golden Fleece." 

Jason went onward a few steps farther, and then 
stopped to gaze. O, how beautiful it looked, 
shining with a marvellous light of its own, thai 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 333 

inestimable prize, which so many heroes had 
longed to behold, but had perished in the quest 
of it, either by the perils of their voyage, or by 
the fiery breath of the brazen-lunged bulls. 

44 How gloriously it shines ! " cried Jason, in a 
rapture. "It has surely been dipped in the 
richest gold of sunset. Let me hasten onward, 
and take it to my bosom." 

" Stay," said Medea, holding him back. " Have 
you forgotten what guards it ? " 

To say the truth, in the joy of beholding the 
object of his desires, the terrible dragon had 
quite slipped out of Jason's memory. Soon, 
however, something came to pass, that reminded 
him what perils were still to be encountered. 
An antelope, that probably mistook the yellow 
radiance for sunrise, came bounding fleetly 
throug^Pme grove. He was rushing straight 
towards the Golden Fleece, when suddenly there 
was a frightful hiss, and the immense head and 
half the scaly body of the dragon was thrust 
forth, ^br he was twisted round the trunk of the 
tree on which the fleece hung,) and seizing 
the poor antelope, swallowed him with one snap 
of his jaws. 

After this feat, the dragon seemed sensible 



334 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

that some other living creature was within reach, 
on which he felt inclined to finish his meal. In 
various directions he kept poking his ugly snout 
among the trees, stretching out his neck a terri- 
ble long way, now here, now there, and now 
close to the spot where Jason and the princess 
were hiding behind an oak. Upon my word, as 
the head came waving and undulating through 
the air, and reaching almost within arm's length 
of Prince Jason, it was a very hideous and un- 
comfortable sight. The gape of his enormous 
jaws was nearly as wide as the gateway of 
the king's palace. 

" Well, Jason," whispered Medea, (for she was 
ill natured, as all enchantresses are, and wanted 
to make the bold youth tremble,) " what do you 
think now of your prospect of winning t^e Gold- 
en Fleece?" 

Jason answered only by drawing his sword, 
and making a step forward. 

" Stay, foolish youth," said Medea, grasping 
his arm. " Do not you see you are lost, with- 
out me as your good angel ? In this gold 
box I have a magic potion, which will do the 
dragon's business far more effectually than your 
sword." 



THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 



335 



The dragon had probably heard the voices; 
for swift as lightning, his black head and forked 
tongue came hissing among the trees again, 
darting full forty feet at a stretch. As it ap- 
proached, Medea tossed the contents of the gold 
box right down the monster's wide-open throat. 
Immediately, with an outrageous hiss and a 
tremendous wriggle, — flinging his tail up to the 
tip-top of the tallest tree, and shattering all its 
branches as it crashed heavily down again, — the 
dragon fell at full length upon the ground, and 
lay quite motionless. 

" It is only a sleeping potion," said the en- 
chantress to Prince Jason. " One always finds 
a use for these mischievous creatures, sooner or 
later ; so I did not wish to kill him outright. 
Quick! Snatch the prize, and let us begone. 
You have won the Golden Fleece." 

Jason caught the fleece from the tree, and 
hurried through the grove, the deep shadows of 
which were illuminated as he passed by the 
golden glory of the precious object that he bore 
along. A little way before him, he beheld the 
old woman whom he had helped over the stream, 
with her peacock beside her. She clapped her 
hands for joy, and beckoning him to make haste, 



336 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

disappeared among the duskiness of the tree& 
Espying the two winged sons of the North Wind, 
(who were disporting themselves in the moon- 
light, a few hundred feet aloft,) Jason bade them 
tell the rest of the Argonauts to embark as 
speedily as possible. But Lynceus, with his 
sharp eyes, had already caught a glimpse of him, 
bringing the Golden Fleece, although several 
stone walls, a hill, and the black shadows of the 
grove of Mars, intervened between. By his ad- 
vice, the heroes had seated themselves on the 
benches of the galley, with their oars held per- 
pendicularly, ready to let fall into the water. 

As Jason drew near, he heard the Talking 
Image calling to him with more than ordinary 
eagerness, in its grave, sweet voice: — 

" Make haste, Prince Jason ! For your life, 
make haste ! " 

With one bound, he leaped aboard. At sight 
of the glorious radiance of the Golden Fleece, the 
nine and forty heroes gave a mighty shout, and 
Orpheus, striking his harp, sang a song of tri- 
umph, to the cadence of which the galley flew 
over the water, homeward bound, as if careering 
along with wings ! 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 



BENJAMIN WEST. 
SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 
SAMUEL JOHNSON. 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
QUEEN CHRISTINA. 



This small volume and others of a similar character, from 
the same hand, have not been composed without a deep 
sense of responsibility. The author regards children as 
sacred, and would not, for the world, cast any thing into the 
fountain of a young heart that might imbitter and pollute 
its waters. And, even in point of the reputation to be aimed 
at, juvenile literature is as well worth cultivating as any 
other. The writer, if he succeed in pleasing his little 
readers, may hope to be remembered by them till their own 
old age — a far longer period of literary existence than is 
generally attained by those who seek immortality from the 
judgments of full-grown men. 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 



CHAPTER I. 

When Edward Temple was about eight or nine 
years old he was afflicted with a disorder of the eyes. 
It was so severe, and his sight was naturally so deli- 
cate, that the surgeon felt some apprehensions lest 
the boy should become totally blind. He therefore 
gave strict directions to keep him in a darkened 
chamber, with a bandage over his eyes. Not a ray 
of the blessed light of heaven could be suffered to 
visit the poor lad. 

This was a sad thing for Edward. It was just the 
same as if there were to be no more sunshine, nor 
moonlight, nor glow of the cheerful fire, nor light 
of lamps. A night had begun which was to con- 
tinue perhaps for months — a longer and drearier 
night than that which voyagers are compelled to 
endure when their ship is icebound, throughout the 



b BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

winter, in the Arctic Ocean. His dear father and 
mother, his brother George, and the sweet face of 
little Emily Robinson must all vanish and leave 
him in uttei darkness and solitude. Their voices 
and footsteps, it is true, would be heard around him ; 
he would feel his mother's embrace and the kind 
piessure of all their hands ; but still it would seem 
as if they were a thousand miles away. 

And then his studies, — they were to be entirely 
given up. This was another grievous trial ; for Ed- 
ward's memory hardly went back to the period when 
he had not known how to read. Many and many a 
holiday had he spent at his book, poring over its 
pages until the deepening twilight confused the print 
and made all the letters run into long words. Then 
would he press his hands across his eyes and wonder 
why they pained him so ; and when the candles were 
lighted, what was the reason that they burned so 
dimly, like the moon in a foggy night? Poor 
little fellow ! So far as his eyes were concerned he 
was already an old man, and needed a pair of specta- 
cles almost as much as his own grandfather did. 

And now, alas ! the time was come when even 
grandfather's spectacles could not have assisted Ed- 
ward to read. After a few bitter tears, which only 
pained Iris eyes the more, the poor boy submitted to 
the surgeon's orders. His eyes were bandaged, and, 
with his mother on one side and his little friend 



BIOGRAI H1CAL STORIES. / 

Emily on the other, he was led into a darkened 
chamber. 

" Mother, I shall be very miserable ! " said Ed- 
vard, sobbing. 

" G, i>o, my dear child i " replied his mother, cheer- 
fully. " Your eyesight was a precious gift of Heaven, 
it is true ; but you would do wrong to be miserable 
for its loss, even if there were no hope of regaining 
it. There are other enjoyments besides what come 
to us through our eyes." 

" None that are worth having," said Edward. 

" Ah, but you will not think so long," rejoined 
Mrs. Tempte, with tenderness. "All of us — your 
father, and myself, and George, and our sweet Emily 
— will try to find occupation and amusement for 
fou. "We will use all our eyes to make you happy. 
Will they not be better than a single pair ? " 

" 1 will sit by you all day long," said Emily, in her 
low, sweet voice, putting her hand into that of Edward. 

"And so will I, Ned," said George, his elder 
brother, " school time and all, if my father will 
permit me." 

Edward's brother George was three or four years 
older than himself — a fine, hardy lad, of a bold and 
ardent temper. He was the leader of his comrades in 
all their enterprises and amusements. As to his profi- 
ciency at study there was not much to be said. He 
had sense and abilitv enough to have made himself a 



8 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

scholar, but found so many pleasanter things to do 
that he seldom took hold of a book with his whole 
heart. So fond was George of boisterous sports and 
exercises that it was really a great token of affection 
and sympathy when he offered to sit all day long in 
a dark chamber with his poor brother Edward. 

As for little Emily Robinson, she was the daugh- 
ter of one of Mr. Temple's dearest friends. Ever 
since her mother went to heaven (which was soon 
after Emily's birth) the little girl had dwelt in the 
household where we now find her. Mr. and Mrs. 
Temple seemed to love her as well as their own chil- 
dren ; for they had no daughter except Emily ; nor 
would the boys have known the blessing of a sister 
bad not this gentle stranger come to teach them what 
it was. If I could show you Emily's face, with her 
dark hair smoothed away from her forehead, you 
would be pleased with her look of simplicity and 
loving kindness, but might think that she w T as some- 
what too grave for a child of seven years old. But 
you would not love her the less for that. 

So brother George and this loving little girl were 
to be Edward's companions and playmates while he 
should be kept prisoner in the dark chamber. When 
the first bitterness of his grief was over he began to 
feel that there might be some comforts and enjoy- 
ments in life even for a boy whose eyes were cov- 
ered with a bandage. 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 



"1 thank you, dear mother," said he, "with only a 
few sobs ; " and you, Emily ; and you too, George. 
You will all be very kind to me, I know. And my 
father, — will not he come and see me every day ? " 

" Yes, my dear boy," said Mr. Temple ; for, 
though invisible to Edward, he was standing close 
beside him. " I will spend some hours of every day 
with you. And as I have often amused you by 
relating stories and adventures while you had the 
use of your eyes, I can do the same now that you 
are unable to read. Will this please you, Edward ? " 

" O, very much," replied Edward. 

" Well, then," said his father, " this evening we 
will begin the series of Biographical Stories which I 
promised you some time ago." 



CHAPTER II. 

When evening came. Mr. Temple found Edward 
considerably revived in spirits and disposed to be 
resigned to his misfortune. Indeed, the figure of the 
boy, as it was dimly seen by the firelight, reclining 
in a well-stuffed easy chair, looked so very comforta- 
ble that many people might have envied him. When 
a man's eyes have grown old with gazing at the ways 
of the world, it does not seem such a terrible misfor- 
tune to have them bandaged. 

Little Emily Robinson sat by Edward's side with 
the air of an accomplished nurse. As well as the 
duskiness of the chamber would permit she watched 
all his motions and each varying expression of his. 
face, and tried to anticipate her patient's wishes be- 
fore his tongue could utter them. Yet it was notice- 
able that the child manifested an indescribable awe 
and disquietude whenever she fixed her eyes on the 
bandage ; for, to her simple and affectionate heart, it 
seemed as if her dear friend Edward was separated 
from her because she could not see his eves. A 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 



11 



friend's eyes tell us many things which could nevei 
be spoken by the tongue. 

George, likewise, looked awkward and confused, 
as stout and healthy boys are accustomed to do in 
the society of the sick or afflicted. Never having felt 
pain or sorrow, they are abashed, from not knowing 
how to sympathize with the sufferings of others. 

" Well, my dear Edward," inquired Mrs. Temple, 
" is your chair quite comfortable ? and has your little 
nurse provided for all your wants ? If so, your 
father is ready to begin his stories." 

" O, I am very well now," answered Edward, 
with a faint smile. " And my ears have not forsaken 
me, though my eyes are good for nothing. So pray, 
dear father, begin." 

It was Mr. Temple's design to tell the children a 
series of true stories, the incidents of which should 
be taken from the childhood and early life of eminent 
people. Thus he hoped to bring George, and Ed- 
ward, and Emily into closer acquaintance with the 
famous persons who have lived in other times by 
showing that they also had been children once. Al- 
though Mr. Temple was scrupulous to relate nothing 
but what was founded on fact, yet he felt himself at 
liberty to clothe the incidents of his narrative in a 
new coloring, so that his auditors might understand 
them the better. 

" My first story," said he, '• shall be about a painiei 
of pictures. 



L2 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

u Dear me ! " cried Edward, with a sigh. " 1 am 
afraid I shall never look at pictures any more." 

" We will hope for the best," answered his father. 
" In the mean time, you must try to see things within 
your own mind." 

Mr. Temple then began the following story : — 

BENJAMIN WEST. 

Born 1738. Died 1820. 

In the year 1738 there came into the world, in the 
town of Springfield, Pennsylvania, a Quaker infant, 
from whom his parents and neighbors looked for won- 
derful things. A famous preacher of the Society of 
Friends had prophesied about little Ben, and foretold 
that he would be one of the most remarkable charac- 
ters that had appeared on the earth since the days of 
William Penn. On this account the eyes of many 
people were fixed upon the boy. Some of his ances- 
tors had won great renown in the old wars of England 
and France ; but it was probably expected that Ben 
would become a preacher, and would convert mul- 
titudes to the peaceful doctrines of the Quakers. 
Friend West and his wife were thought to be very 
fortunate in having such a son. 

Little Ben lived to the ripe age of six years with- 
out doing any thing that was worthy to be told in 
history. But one summer afternoon, in his seventh 



BIOGRAPHICAL 2TORIES. 1*3 

year, his mother put a fan into his hand and bade 
him keep the flies away from the face of a little babe 
who lay fast asleep in the cradle. She then left the 
room. 

The boy waved the fan to and fro and drove away 
the buzzing flies whenever they had the impertinence 
to come near the baby's face. When they had all 
flown out of* the window or into distant parts of the 
room, he bent over the cradle and delighted himself 
with gazing at the sleeping infant. It was, indeed, 
a very pretty sight. The little personage in the 
cradle slumbered peacefully, with its waxen hands 
under its chin, looking as full of blissful quiet as if 
angels were singing lullabies in its ear. Indeed, it 
must have been dreaming about heaven ; for, while 
Ben stooped over the cradle, the little baby smiled. 

" How beautiful she looks ! " said Ben to himself. 
u What a pity it is that such a pretty smile should 
not last forever ! " 

Now Ben, at this period of his life, had never heard 
of that wonderful art by which a look, that appears 
and vanishes in a moment, may be made to last for 
hundreds of years. But, though nobody had told him 
of such an art, he may be said to have invented it for 
himself. On a table near at hand there were pens 
and paper, and ink of two colors, black and red. 
The boy seized a pen and sheet of paper, and, kneel- 
ing down beside the cradle, began to draw a likeness 



14 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

of the infant. While he was busied in this manne/ 
he heard his mother's step approaching, and hastily 
tried to conceal the paper. 

" Benjamin, my son, what hast thou been doing ? ' 
inquired his mother, observing marks of confusion ir 
his face. 

At first Ben was unwilling to tell ; for he felt as 
if there might be something wrong in' stealing the 
baby's face and putting it upon a sheet of paper. 
However, as his mother insisted, he finally put the 
sketch into her hand, and then hung his head, ex- 
pecting to be well scolded. But when the good lady 
saw what was on the paper, in lines of red and black 
ink, she uttered a scream of surprise and joy. 

" Bless me ! " cried she. " It is a picture of little 
Sally!" 

And then she threw her arms round our friend 
Benjamin, and kissed him so tenderly that he never 
afterwards was afraid to show his performances to 
his mother. 

As Ben grew older, he was observed to take vast 
delight in looking at the hues and forms of Nature. 
For instance, he was greatly pleased with the blue 
violets of spring, the wild roses of summer, and the 
scarlet cardinal flowers of early autumn. In the de- 
cline of the year, when the woods were variegated 
with all the colors of the rainbow, Ben seemed to de- 
sire nothing better than to gaze at them from morD 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 15 

till night. The purple and golden clouds of sunset 
were a joy to him. And he was continually endeav- 
oring to draw the figures of trees, men, mountains, 
houses, cattle, geese, dncks, and turkeys, with a 
piece of chalk, on barn doors or on the floor. 

In these old times the Mohawk Indians were still 
numerous in Pennsylvania. Every year a party of 
them used to pay a visit to Springfield, because the 
wigwams of their ancestors had formerly stood there. 
These wild men grew fond of little Ben, and made 
him very happy by giving him some of the red 
and yellow paint with which they were accustomed 
to adorn their faces. His mother, too, presented him 
with a piece of indigo. Thus he now had three col- 
ors, — red, blue, and yellow, — and could manufac- 
ture green by mixing the yellow with the blue. Our 
friend Ben was overjoyed, and doubtless showed his 
gratitude to the Indians by taking their likenesses in 
the strange dresses which they wore, with feathers, 
tomahawks, and bows and arrows. 

But all this time the young artist had no paint 
brushes ; nor were there any to be bought, unless he 
had sent to Philadelphia on purpose. However, he 
was a very ingenious boy, and resolved to manufac 
ture paint brushes for himself. With this design he 
laid hold upon — what do you think ? Why, upon a 
respectable old black cat, who was sleeping quiet!) 
by the fireside 



16 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

" Puss/' said little Ben to the cat, " pray give me 
some of the fur from the tip of thy tail ? " 

Though he addressed the black cat so civilly, yet 
Ben was determined to have the fur, whether she 
were willing or not. Puss, who had no great zeal for 
the fine arts, would have resisted if she could ; but 
the boy was armed with his mother's scissors, and 
very dexterously clipped off fur enough to make a 
paint brush. This was of so much use to him that 
he applied to Madame Puss again and again, until 
her warm coat of fur had become so thin and ra^sred 
that she could hardly keep comfortable through the 
winter. Poor thing ! she was forced to creep close 
into the chimney corner, and eyed Ben with a very 
rueful physiognomy. But Ben considered it more 
necessary that he should have paint brushes than 
that puss should be warm. 

About this period friend West received a visit from 
Mr. Pennington, a merchant of Philadelphia, who 
was likewise a member of the Society of Friends. The 
visitor, on entering the parlor, was surprised to see 
it ornamented with drawings of Indian chiefs, and of 
birds with beautiful plumage, and of the wild flowers 
of the forest. Nothing of the kind was ever seen 
before in the habitation of a Quaker farmer. 

" Why, friend West," exclaimed the Philadelphia 
merchant, " what has possessed thee to cover thy 
walls with all these pictures ? Where on earth dids/ 
tfiou get them ? " 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 17 

Then friend West explained that all these pictures 
were painted by little Ben, with no better materials 
than red and yellow ochre and a piece of indigo, and 
with brushes made of the black cat's fur. 

" Verily," said Mr. Pennington, " the boy hath a 
wonderful faculty. Some of our friends might look 
upon these matters as vanity ; but little Benjamin 
appears to have been born a painter ; and Providence 
is wiser than we are." 

The good merchant patted Benjamin on the head, 
and evidently considered him a wonderful boy. When 
his parents saw how much their son's performances 
were admired, they, no doubt, remembered the proph- 
ecy of the old Quaker preacher respecting Ben's fu- 
ture eminence. Yet they could not understand how 
he was ever to become a very great and useful man 
merely by making pictures. 

One evening, shortly after Mr. Pennington's return 
to Philadelphia, a package arrived at Springfield, di- 
rected to our little friend Ben. 

"What can it possibly be?" thought Ben, when 
; .t was put into his hands. " Who can have sent me 
such a great square package as this ? " 

On taking off the thick brown paper which envel- 
oped it, behold ! there was a paint box, with a great 
many cakes of paint and brushes of various sizes. 
[t was the gift of good Mr. Pennington. There were 
likewise several squares of canvas such as artists use 



18 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIEb. 

for painting pictures upon, and, in addition to all 
these treasures, some beautiful engravings of Jand- 
ccapes. These were the first pictures that Ben had 
ever seen except those of his own drawing. 

What a joyful evening was this for the little artist ! 
At bedtime he put the paint box under his pillow, 
and got hardly a wink of sleep ; for, all night long,, 
his fancy was painting pictures in the darkness. In 
the morning he hurried to the garret, and was seen 
no more till the dinner hour ; nor did he give him- 
self time to eat more than a mouthful or two of food 
before he hurried back to the garret again. The 
next day, and the next, he was just as busy as ever ; 
until at last his mother thought it time to ascertain 
what he was about. She accordingly followed him 
to the garret. 

On opening the door, the first object that presented 
itself to her eyes was our friend Benjamin, giving 
the last touches to a beautiful picture. He had cop- 
ied portions of two of the engravings, and made one 
picture out of both, with such admirable skill that it 
was far more beautiful than the o-riginals. The grass, 
the trees, the water, the sky, and the houses were all 
painted in their proper colors. There, too, were the 
sunshine and the shadow, looking as natural as life. 

" My dear child, thou hast done wonders ! ,5 cried 
his mother. 

The good lady was in an ecstasy of delight And 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 19 

we) L might she be proud of her boy ; for there were 
touches in this picture which old artists, who had 
spent a lifetime in the business, need not have been 
ashamed of. Many a year afterwards, this wonderful 
production was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 
London. 

When Benjamin was quite a large lad he was sent 
to school at Philadelphia. Not long after his arrival 
he had a slight attack of fever, which confined him 
to his bed. The light, which would otherwise have 
disturbed him, was excluded from his chamber by 
means of closed wooden shutters. At first it ap- 
peared so totally dark that Ben could not distin- 
guish any object in the room. By degrees, however, 
his eyes became accustomed to the scanty light. 

He was lying on his back, looking up towards the 
ceiling, when suddenly he beheld the dim apparition of 
a white cow moving slowly over his head ! Ben start- 
ed, and rubbed his eyes in the greatest amazement. 

" What can this mean ? " thought he. 

The white cow disappeared ; and next came sever- 
al pigs, which trotted along the ceiling and vanished 
into the darkness of the chamber. So lifelike did 
these grunters look that Ben almost seemed to hear 
them squeak. 

" Well, this is very strange ! " said Ben to himself. 

When the people of the house came to see him. 
Benjamin told them of the marvellous circumstance 
which had occurred. But thev would not believe him 



20 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

kt Benjamin, thou art surely out of thy senses ! ' 
cried they. " How is it possible that a white cow 
and a litter of pigs should be visible on the ceiling 
of a dark chamber ? " 

Ben, however, had great confidence in his own eye- 
sight, and was determined to search the mystery to 
the bottom. For this purpose, when he was again 
left alone, he got out of bed and examined the win- 
dow shutters. . He soon perceived a small chink in 
one of them, through which a ray of light found its 
passage and rested upon the ceiling. Now, the sci- 
ence of optics will inform us that the pictures of tVe 
white cow and the pigs, and of other objects out ol . 
doors, came into the dark chamber through this nar 
row chink, and were painted over Benjamin's head. 
It is greatly to his credit that he discovered the sci- 
entific principle of this phenomenon, and by means 
of it constructed a camera obscura, or magic lantern, 
out of a hollow box. This was of great advantage 
to him in drawing landscapes. 

Well, time went on, and Benjamin continued te 
draw and paint pictures until he had now reached 
the age when it was proper that he should choose a 
business for life. His father and mother were in con- 
siderable perplexity about him. According to the 
ideas of the Quakers, it is not right for people to 
spend their lives in occupations that are of no real 
and sensible advantage to the world. Now, what ad- 
vantage could the world expect from Benjamin's 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 21 

pictures ? This was a difficult question ; and, in ordei 
to set their minds at rest, his parents determined to 
consult the preachers and wise men of their society. 
Accordingly, they all assembled in the meeting house, 
and discussed the matter from beginning to end. 

Finally they came to a very wise decision. It 
seemed so evident that Providence had created Ben- 
jamin to be a painter, and had given him abilities 
which would be thrown away in any other business, 
that the Quakers resolved not to oppose his inclina- 
tion. They even acknowledged that the sight of a 
beautiful picture might convey instruction to the 
mind and might benefit the heart as much as a good 
book or a wise discourse. They therefore committed 
the youth to the direction of God, being well assured 
that he best knew what was his proper sphere of use- 
fulness. The old men laid their hands upon Benja- 
min's head and gave him their blessing, and the wo- 
men kissed him affectionately. All consented that 
he should go forth into the world and learn to be a 
painter by studying the best pictures of ancient and 
modern times. 

So our friend Benjamin left the dwelling of his 
parents, and his native woods and streams, and the 
good Quakers of Springfield, and the Indians who 
had given him his first colors ; he left all the places 
and persons whom he had hitherto known, and re- 
turned to them no mere. He went first to Philadel- 
phia mid afterwards to Europe. Here he was no 



22 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

ticed by many great people, but retained all the sobri- 
ety and simplicity which he had learned among the 
Quakers. It is related of him, that, when he was 
presented at the court of the Prince of Parma, ha 
kept his hat upon his head even while kissing the 
Prince's hand. 

When he was twenty-five years old he went to 
London and established himself there as an artist. 
In due course of time he acquired great fame by 
his pictures, and was made chief painter to King 
George III. and president of the Royal Academy of 
Arts. When the Quakers of Pennsylvania heard of 
Iris success, they felt that the prophecy of the old 
preacher as to little Ben's future eminence was now 
accomplished. It is true, they shook their heads at 
his pictures of battle and bloodshed, such as the 
Death of Wolfe, thinking that these terrible scenes 
should not be held up to the admiration of the world 

But they approved of the great paintings in whici 
he represented the miracles and sufferings of the Re 
deemer of mankind. King George employed him to 
adorn a large and beautiful chapel at Windsor Castle 
with pictures of these sacred subjects. He likewise 
painted a magnificent picture of Christ Healing the 
Sick, which he gave to the hospital at Philadelphia. 
It was exhibited to the public, and produced so much 
profit that the hospital was enlarged so as to accom- 
modate thirty more patients. If Benjamin West had 
done no other good deed than this, yet it would have 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 23 

been enough to entitle him to an honorable remem- 
brance forever. At this very day there are thirty 
poor people in the hospital who owe all their com- 
forts to that same picture. 

We shall mention only a single incident more. 
The picture of Christ Healing the Sick was exhibited 
at the Royal Academy in London, where it covered 
a vast space and displayed a multitude of figures as 
large as life. On the Avail, close beside this admira- 
ble picture, hung a small and faded landscape. It 
was the same that little Ben had painted in his fa- 
ther's garret, after receiving the paint box and en- 
gravings from good Mr. Pennington. 

He lived many years in peace and honor, and died 
in 1820, at the age of eighty-two. The story of his 
life is almost as wonderful as a fairy tale ; for there 
are few stranger transformations than that of a little 
unknown Quaker boy, in the wilds of America, into 
the most distinguished English painter of his day. 
Let us each make the best use of our natural abilities 
as Benjamin West did ; and, with the blessing of Prov- 
idence, we shall arrive at some good end. As for fame 
it is but little matter whether we acquire it or not. 

" Thank you for the story, my dear father," said 
Edward, when it was finished. l( Do you know that 
it seems as if I could see things without the help of 
my eyes ■ While you were speaking I have seen 
little Ben, and the baby in its cradle, and the Indians, 



24 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

and the white cow, and the pigs, and kind Mr. Pen- 
nington, and all the good old Quakers, almost a,? 
plainly as if they were in this very room." 

" It is because your attention was not disturbed by 
outward objects," replied Mr. Temple. " People, 
when deprived of sight, often have more vivid ideas 
than those who possess the perfect use of their eyes. 
I will venture to say that George has not attended to 
the story quite so closely." 

" No, indeed," said George ; " but it was a very 
pretty story for all that. How I should have laughed 
to see Ben making a paint brush out of the black 
cat's tail ! I intend to try the experiment with Em- 
ily's kitten." 

" 0, no, no, George ! " cried Emily, earnestly - 
"My kitten cannot spare her tail." 

Edward being an invalid, it was now time for him 
to retire to bed. When the family bade him good 
night he turned his face towards them, looking very 
loath to part. 

" I shall not know when morning comes," said he, 
sorrowfully. "And besides, 1 want to hear your 
voices all the time ; for, when nobody is speaking, it 
seems as if I were alone in a dark world." 

" You must have faith, my dear child," replied his 
mother. " Faith is the soul's eyesight ; and when 
we possess it the world is never dark nor lonely." 



CHAPTER III. 

The next day Edward began to get accustomed to 
his new condition of life. Once, indeed, when his 
parents were out of the way and only Emily was 
left to take care of him, he could not resist the 
temptation to thrust aside the bandage and peep at 
the anxious face of his little nurse. But, in spite of 
the dimness of the chamber, the experiment caused 
him so much pain that he felt no inclination to take 
another look. So, with a deep sigh, he resigned 
himself to his fate. 

" Emily, pray talk to me ! " said he, somewhat im- 
patiently. 

Now, Emily was a remarkably silent little girl, 
and did not possess that liveliness of disposition 
which renders some children such excellent compan- 
ions. She seldom laughed, and had not the faculty 
of making many words about small matters. Bu* 
the love and earnestness of her heart taught her how 
to amuse poor Edward in his darkness. She put her 
knitting work into his hands. 



26 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

" You must learn how to knit/' said she. 

"What! without using my eyes?" cried Edward. 

" I can knit with my eyes shut," replied Emily. 

Then with her own little hands she guided Ed- 
ward's fmgers while he set about this new occupa- 
tion. So awkward were his first attempts that any 
other little girl would have laughed heartily. But 
Emily preserved her gravity, and showed the utmost 
patience in taking up the innumerable stitches which 
he let down. In the course of an hour or two his 
progress was quite encouraging. 

When evening came, Edward acknowledged that 
the day had been far less wearisome than he antici- 
pated. But he was glad, nevertheless, when his 
father and mother, and George and Emily, all took 
their seats around his chair. He put out his hand to 
grasp each of their hands, and smiled with a very 
bright expression upon his lips. 

" Now I can see you all with my mind's eye," 
said he. " And now, father, pray tell us another 
story." 

So Mr Temple began. 

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 

Bqbn 1642. Died 1727. 

On Christmas day, in the year 1642, Isaac New- 
ton was born at the small village of Woolsthorpe, in 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 27 

England. Little did his mother think, when she be- 
held her new-born babe, that he was destined to ex- 
plain many matters which had been a mystery ever 
since the creation of the world. 

Isaac's father being dead, Mrs. Newton was mar- 
tied again to a clergyman, and went to reside at 
N"orth Witham. Her son was left to the care of his 
good old grandmother, who was very kind to him 
and sent him to school. In his early years Isaac 
did not appear to be a very bright scholar, but was 
chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity in all mechanical 
occupations. He had a set of little tools and saws of 
various sizes manufactured by himself. With the 
aid of these Isaac contrived to make many curious 
articles, at which he worked with so much skill that 
he seemed to have been born with a saw or chisel in 
hand. 

The neighbors looked with vast admiration at the 
things which Isaac manufactured. And his old grand- 
mother, I suppose, was never weary of talking about 
him. 

" He'll make a capital workman one of these 
days," she would probably say. " No fear but what 
Isaac will do well in the world and be a rich man 
before he dies." 

It is amusing to conjecture what were the anticipa- 
tions of his grandmother and the neighbors about 
Isaae's future life. Some of them, perhaps, fancied 



28 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

that he would make beautiful furniture of mahogany, 
rosewood, or polished oak, inlaid with ivory and 
ebony and magnificently gilded. And then, doubt- 
less, all the rich people would purchase these fine 
things to adorn their drawing rooms. Others prob- 
ably thought that little Isaac was destined to be' an 
architect, and would build splendid mansions for the 
nobility and gentry, and churches too, with the tallest 
steeples that had ever been seen in England. 

Some of his friends, no doubt, advised Isaac s 
grandmother to apprentice him to a clockmaker ; for, 
besides his mechanical skill, the boy seemed to have 
a taste for mathematics, which would be very useful 
to him in that profession. And then, in due time, 
Isaac would set up for himself, and would manufac- 
ture curious clocks, like those that contain sets of 
dancing figures, which issue from the dialplate when 
the hour is struck ; or like those where a ship sails 
across the face of the clock, and is seen tossing up 
and down on the waves as often as the pendulum 
vibrates. 

Indeed, there was some ground for supposing that 
Isaac would devote himself to the manufacture of 
clocks ; since he had already made one, of a kind 
which nobody had ever heard of before. It was set 
a-going, not by wheels and weights like other clocks, 
but by the dropping of water. This was an object 
of great wonderment to all the people round about 



BIOGRAPHICAL 3TORIE3. 29 

and it must be confessed that there are few boys, 01 
men either, who could contrive to tell what a clock 
it is by means oi a bowl of water. 

Besides the water clock, Isaac made a sundial, 
Thus his grandmother was never at a loss to know 
the hour ; for the water clock would tell it in the 
shade, and the dial in the sunshine. The sundial is 
said to be still in existence at Woolsthorpe, on the 
corner of the house where Isaac dwelt. If so, it 
must have marked the passage of every sunny hour 
that has elapsed since Isaac Newton was a boy. It 
marked all the famous moments of his life ; it marked 
the hour of his death ; and still the sunshine creeps 
slowly over it, as regularly as when Isaac first set 
it up. 

Yet we must not say that the sundial has lasted 
longer than its maker ; for Isaac Newton will exist 
long after the dial — yea, and long after the sun 
itself — shall have crumbled to decay. 

Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring 
knowledge by the simplest means. For instance, 
what method do you suppose he took to find out the 
strength of the wind ? You will never guess how 
the boy could compel that unseen, inconstant, and 
ungovernable wonder, the wind, to tell him the meas- 
ure of his strength. Yet nothing can be more simple. 
He jumped against the wind ; and by the length of 
his jump he could calculate the force of a gentle 



30 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

breeze, a brisk gale, or a tempest. Thus, even in 
his boyish sports, he was continually searching out 
the secrets of philosophy. 

Not far from his grandmother's residence there was 
a windmill which operated on a new plan. Isaac 
was in the habit of going thither frequently, and 
would spend whole hours in examining its various 
parts. While the mill was at rest he pried into its 
internal machinery. When its broad sails were set 
in motion by the wind he watched the process by 
which the millstones were made to revolve and 
crush the grain that was put into the hopper. After 
gaining a thorough knowledge of its construction he 
Was observed to be unusually busy with his tools. 

It was not long before his grandmother and all 
the neighborhood knew what Isaac had been about. 
He had constructed a model of the windmill. Though 
not so large, I suppose, as one of the box traps which 
boys set to catch squirrels, yet every part of the mill 
and its machinery was complete. Its little sails 
were neatly made of linen, and whirled round very 
swiftly when the mill was placed in a draught of air. 
Even a puff of wind from Isaac's mouth or from a 
a pair of bellows was sufficient to set the sails in 
caotion. And, what was most curious, if a handful 
of grains of wheat were put into the little hopper, 
they would soon be converted into snow-white flour. 

Isaac's playmates were enchanted with his new 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 31 

windmill. They thought that nothing so pretty and 
so wonderful had ever been seen in the whole world. 

*' But, Isaac/' said one of them, " you have for- 
gotten one thing that belongs to a mill." 

" What is that ? " asked Isaac ; for he supposed 
that, from the roof of the mill to its foundation, he 
had forgotten nothing. 

" Why, where is the miller ? " said his friend. 

"That is true — I must look out for one," said 
Isaac ; and he set himself to consider how the defi- 
ciency should be supplied. 

He might easily have made the miniature figure 
of a man ; but then it would not have been able to 
move about and perforin the duties of a miller. As 
Captain Lemuel Gulliver had not yet discovered the 
Island of Liliput, Isaac did not know that there were 
little men in the world whose size was just suited to 
his windmill. It so happened, however, that a mouse 
had just been caught in the trap ; and, as no other mill- 
er could be found, Mr. Mouse was appointed to that 
important office. The new miller made a very respect- 
able appearance in his dark-gray coat. To be sure, 
he had not a very good character for honesty, and was 
suspected of sometimes stealing a portion of the grain 
which was given him to grind. But perhaps some 
two-legged millers are quite as dishonest as this small 
quadruped. 

As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far 



32 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

more important matters in his mind than the manu- 
facture of toys like the little windmill. All day long, 
if left to himself, he was either absorbed in thought 
or engaged in some book of mathematics or natural 
philosophy. At night, I think it probable, he looked 
up with reverential curiosity to the stars, and won- 
dered whether they were worlds like our own, and 
how great was their distance from the earth, and 
what was the power that kept them in their courses. 
Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac Newton felt a 
presentiment that he should be able, hereafter, to 
answer all these questions. 

When Isaac was fourteen years old, his mother's 
second husband being now dead, she wished her son 
to leave school and assist her in managing the farm at 
Woolsthorpe. For a year or two, therefore, he tried 
to turn his attention to farming. But his mind was so 
bent on becoming a scholar that his mother sent him 
back to school, and afterwards to the University of 
Cambridge. 

I have now finished my anecdotes of Isaac New- 
ton's boyhood. My story would be far too long- 
were I to mention all the splendid discoveries which 
he made after he came to be a man. He was the first 
that found out the nature of light ; for, before his 
day, nobody could tell what the sunshine was com- 
posed of. You remember, I suppose, the story of an 
apple's falling on his head, and thus leading him tc 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 66 

discover the force of gravitation, which keeps the 
heavenly bodies in their courses. When he had 
once got hold of this idea, he never permitted hi3 
mind to lest until he had searched out all the laws by 
which the planets are guided through the sky. This he 
did as thoroughly as if he had gone up among the stars 
and tracked them in their orbits. The boy had found 
out the mechanism of a windmill ; the man explained 
to his fellow-men the mechanism of the universe. 

While making these researches he was accustomed 
to spend night after night in a lofty tower, gazing at 
the heavenly bodies through a telescope. His mind 
was lifted far above the things of this world. He 
may be said, indeed, to have spent the greater part 
of his life in worlds that lie thousands and millions 
of miles away ; for where the thoughts and the heart 
are, there is our true existence. 

Did you never hear the story of Newton and his 
little dog Diamond? One day, when he was fifty 
years old, and had been hard at work more than 
twenty years studying the theory of light, he went 
out of his chamber, leaving his little dog asleep be- 
fore the fire. On the table lay a heap of manuscript 
papers, containing all the discoveries which Newton 
had made during those twenty years. When his 
master was gone, up rose little Diamond, jumped upon 
the table, and overthrew the lighted candle, The 
p?pers immediately caught fire. 



34 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

Just as the destruction was completed Newtou 
opened the chamber door, and perceived that the 
labors of twenty years were reduced to a heap of 
ashes. There stood little Diamond, the author of all 
the mischief. Almost any other man would have 
sentenced the dog to immediate death. But Newton 
patted him on the head with his usual kindness, al- 
though grief was at his heart. 

"O Diamond, Diamond," exclaimed he, "thou 
little knowest the mischief thou hast done ! " 

This incident affected his health and spirits for 
some time afterwards ; but, from his conduct towards 
the little dog, you may judge what was the sweetness 
of his temper. 

Newton lived to be a very old man, and acquired 
great renown, and was made a member of parliament, 
jind received the honor of knighthood from the king. 
But he cared little for earthly fame and honors, and 
felt no pride in the vastness of his knowledge. All 
that he had learned only made him feel how little he 
knew in comparison to what remained to be known. 

"I seem to myself like a child," observed he, 
" playing on the sea shore, and picking up here and 
there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while the 
boundless ocean of Truth lies undiscovered before 
me 

At last, in 1727, when he was fourscore and five 
years old, Sir Isaac Newton died — or rather he 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 35 

ceased tc live on earth. We may be permitted to 
believe that he is still searching out the infinite wis- 
dom and goodness of the Creator as earnestly, and 
with even more success than while his spirit animated 
a mortal body. He has left a fame behind him 
which will be as endurable as if his name were writ- 
ten in letters of light formed by the stars upon the 
midnight sky. 

" I love to hear about mechanical contrivances, 
such as the water clock and the little windmill," re- 
marked George. " I suppose, if Sir Isaac Newton 
had only thought of it, he might have found out the 
steam engine, and railroads, and all the other famous 
inventions that have come into use since his day." 

" Very possibly he might," replied Mr. Temple , 
" and no doubt a great many people would think it 
more useful to manufacture steam engines than to 
search out the system of the universe. Other great 
astronomers besides Newton have been endowed with 
mechanical genius. There was David Rittenhouse, 
an American, — he made a perfect little water mill 
when he was only seven or eight years old. But 
this sort of ingenuity is but a mere trifle in compari- 
son with the other talents of such men." 

" It must have been beautiful," said Edward, " to 
spend whole nights in a high tower as Newton did 
gazing at the stars, and the comets, and the meteors 



36 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

But what would Newton have done had he been 
blind? or if his eyes had been no better than 
mine ? " 

" Why, even then, my dear child," observed Mrs. 
Temple, "he would have found out some way of 
enlightening his mind and of elevating his soul. 
But come ; little Emily is waiting to bid you good 
night. You must go to sleep and dream of seeing 
all our faces." 

" But how sad it will be when I awake ! " mur- 
mured Edward. 



CHAPTER IV. 

In the course of the next day the harmony of oui 
little family was disturbed by something like a quar- 
rel between George and Edward. 

The former, though he loved his brother dearly, 
had found it quite too great a sacrifice of his own 
enjoyments to spend all his play time in a darkened 
chamber. Edward, on the other hand, was inclined 
to be despotic. He felt as if his bandaged eyes enti- 
tled him to demand that every body who enjoyed the 
blessing of sight should contribute to his comfort 
and amusement. He therefore insisted that George, 
instead of going out to play at football, should join 
with himself and Emily in a game of questions and 
answers. 

George resolutely refused, and ran out of the house. 
He did not revisit Edward's chamber till the evening, 
when he stole in, looking confused, yet somewhat 
sullen, and sat down beside his father's chair. It 
was evident, by a motion of Edward's head and a slight 
trembling of his lips, that he was aware of George'? 



38 HI0GRAPH1CAL STORIES. 

entrance, though his footsteps had been almost inau 
dible. Emily, with her serious and earnest little 
face, looked from one to the other, as if she longed tc 
be a messenger of peace between them. 

Mr. Temple, without seeming to notice any oi 
these circumstances, began a story. 

SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
BoRif 170'). Died 1784. 

" Sam," said Mr. Michael Johnson, of Lichfield, 
one morning, "I am very feeble and ailing to-day. 
You must go to Uttoxeter in my stead, and tend the 
book stall in the market-place there." 

This was spoken above a hundred years ago, by an 
elderly man, who had once been a thriving bookseller 
at Lichfield, in England. Being now in reduced 
circumstances, he was forced to go every market day 
and sell books at a stall, in the neighboring village of 
Uttoxeter. 

His son, to whom Mr. Johnson spoke, was a great 
boy, of very singular aspect. He had an intelligent 
face ; but it was seamed and distorted by a scrofulous 
humor, which affected his eyes so badly that some- 
times he was almost blind. Owing to the same cause, 
his head would often shake with a tremulous motion, 
as if he were afflicted with the palsy. When Sam 
was an infant, the famous Queen Anne had tried to 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES 39 

cure him 01 this disease by laying her royal hands 
upon his head. But though the touch of a king or 
queen was supposed to be a certain remedy for scrof- 
ula, it produced no good effect upon Sam Johnson. 

At the time which we speak of the poor lad was 
not very well dressed, and wore shoes from which his 
toes peeped out ; for his old father had barely the 
means of supporting his wife and children. But, 
poor as the family were, young Sam Johnson had as 
much pride as any nobleman's son in England. The 
fact was, he felt conscious of uncommon sense and 
ability, which, in his own opinion, entitled him to 
great respect from the world. Perhaps he would 
have been glad if grown people had treated him as 
reverentially as his schoolfellows did. Three of 
them were accustomed to come for him every morn- 
ing ; and while he sat upon the back of one, the two 
others supported him on each side ; and thus he rode 
to school in triumph. 

Being a personage of so much importance, Sam 
could not bear the idea of standing all day in Uttox- 
eter market offering books to the rude and ignorant, 
country people. Doubtless he felt the more reluctant 
on account of his shabby clothes, and the disorder of 
his eyes, and the tremulous motion of his head. 

When Mr. Michael Johnson spoke Sam pouted 
and made an indistinct grumbling in his throat ; then 
he locked his old father in the face and answered 
him loudly and deliberately. 



40 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

" Sir," said he, " I will not go to Uttoxeter mar- 
ket!" 

Mr. Johnson had seen a great deal of the lad's 
obstinacy ever since his birth ; and while Sam was 
younger, the old gentleman had probably used the rod 
whenever occasion seemed to require. But lie was 
now too feeble and too much out of spirits to contend 
with this stubborn and violent-tempered boy. He 
therefore gave up the point at once, and prepared to 
go to Uttoxeter himself. 

" "Well, Sam," said Mr. Johnson, as he took his hat 
and staff, " if for the sake of your foolish pride you can 
suffer your poor sick father to stand all day in the 
noise and confusion of the market when he ought to be 
in his bed, I have no more to say. But you will 
think of this, Sam, when I am dead and gone." 

So the poor old man (perhaps with a tear in his eye, 
but certainly with sorrow in his heart) set forth to- 
wards Uttoxeter. The gray haired, feeble, melancholy 
Michael Johnson ! How sad a thing it was that he 
should be forced to go, in his sickness, and toil for 
the support of an ungrateful son who was too proud 
to do any thing for his father, or his mother, or him- 
self ! Sam looked after Mr. Johnson with a sullen 
countenance till he was out of sight. 

Bui when the old man's figure, as he went stoop- 
ing along the street, was no more to be seen, the boy's 
heart began to smite him. He had a vivid imagina, 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 41 

lion, and it tormented him with the image of his 
father standing in the market-place of Uttoxeter and 
offering his books to the noisy crowd around him. 
Sam seemed to behold him arranging his literary 
merchandise upon the stall in such a way as was best 
calculated to attract notice. Here was Addison's 
Spectator, a long row of little volumes ; here was 
Pope's translation of the Iliad and Odyssey ; here were 
Dryden's poems, or those of Prior. Here, likewise, 
were Gulliver's Travels, and a variety of little gilt- 
covered children's books, such as Tom Thumb, Jack 
the Giant Queller, Mother Goose's Melodies, and 
others which our great-grand parents used to read in 
their childhood. And here were sermons for the 
pious, and pamphlets for the politicians, and ballads, 
some merry and some dismal ones, for the country 
people to sing. 

Sam, in imagination, saw his father offer these books, 
pamphlets, and ballads, now to the rude yeomen who 
perhaps could not read a word ; now to the country 
squires, who cared for nothing but to hunt hares and 
foxes ; now to the children, who chose to spend 
their coppers for sugar plums or gingerbread rather 
than for picture books. And if Mr. Johnson should 
sell a book to man, woman, or child, it would cost him 
an hour's talk to get a profit of only sixpence. 

" My poor father ! " ' thought Sam to himself. 
1 How his head will ache ! and how heavy his heart 



42 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

will be ! I am almost sorry that I did not do as he 
bade me." 

Then the boy went to his mother, who was busy 
about the house. She did not know of what had 
passed between Mr. Johnson and Sam. 

" Mother," said he, " did you think father seemed 
very ill to-day ? " 

" Yes, Sam," answered his mother, turning with a 
flushed face from the fire, where she was cooking 
their scanty dinner. " Your father did look very ill ; 
and it is a pity he did not send you to Uttoxeter in 
his stead. You are a great boy now, and would 
rejoice, I am sure, to do something for your poor 
father, who has done so much for you." 

The lad made no reply. But again his imagina- 
tion set to work and conjured up another picture cf 
poor Michael Johnson. He was standing in the hot 
sunshine of the market-place, and looking so weary, 
sick, and disconsolate, that the eyes of all the crowd 
were drawn to him. " Had this old man no son," 
the people would say among themselves, " who 
might have taken his place at the book stall while 
the father kept his bed ? " And perhaps, — but this 
was a terrible thought for Sam ! — perhaps his father 
would faint away and fall down in the market-place, 
with his gray hair in the dust and his venerable face 
as deathlike as that of a corpse. And there would 
be the bystanders gazing earnestly at Mr. Johnson 
and whispering, " Is he dead ? Is he dead ? " 



lilOGRAPMICAL STORIES. 43 

And Sam shuddered as he repeated to himself 
" Is he dead ? " 

" O, I have been a cruel son ! " thought he, 
within his own heart. " God forgive me ! God 
tbrgive me ! " 

But God could not yet forgive him ; for he was 
not truly penitent. Had he been so, he would have 
hastened away that very moment to Uttoxeter, and 
have fallen at his father's feet, even in the midst of 
the crowded market-place. There he would have 
confessed his fault, and besought Mr. Johnson to go 
home and leave the rest of the day's work to him. 
But such was Sam's pride and natural stubbornness 
that he could not bring himself to this humiliation. 
Yet he ought to have done so, for his own sake, for 
his father's sake, and for God's sake. 

After sunset old Michael Johnson came slowly 
home and sat down in his customary chair. He said 
nothing to Sam ; nor do I know that a single word 
ever passed between them on the subject of the son's 
disobedience. In a few years his father died, and 
left Sam to fight his way through the world by him- 
self. It would make <our story much too long were 
I to tell you even a few of the remarkable events of 
Sam's life. Moreover, there is the less need of this, 
because many books have been written about that 
poor boy, and the fame that he acquired, and all that 
he did or talked of doing after he came to be a man 



44 BIOGRAPHICAL STOJUES. 

But one thing I must not neglect to say. From 
his boyhood upward until the latest day of his life 
he never forgot the story of Uttoxeter market. Often 
when he was a scholar of the University of Oxford, or 
master of an academy at Edial, or a writer for the 
London booksellers, — in all his poverty and toil and 
in all his success, — while he was walking the streets 
without a shilling to buy food, or when the greatest 
men of England were proud to feast him at their ta- 
ble, --still that heavy and remorseful thought came 
back to him, " I was cruel to my poor father in his 
illness ! " Many and many a time, awake or in his 
dreams, he seemed to see old Michael Johnson stand- 
ing in the dust and confusion of the market-place 
and pressing his withered hand to his forehead as if 
it ached. 

Alas ! my dear children, it is a sad thing to have 
such a thought as this to bear us company through 
life. 

Though the story was but half finished, yet, as it 
was longer than usual, Mr. Temple here made a 
short pause. He perceived that Emily was in tears, 
and Edward turned his half-veiled face towards the 
speaker with an air of great earnestness and interest. 
As for George, he had withdrawn into the dusky 
shadow behind his father's chair. 



CHAPTER V. 

In a few moments Mr. Temple resumed the sto- 
ry, as follows : — 

SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

CONTINUED. 

Well, my children, fifty years had passed away 
since young Sam Johnson had shown himself so hard- 
hearted towards his father. It was now market day 
in the village of Uttoxeter. 

In the street of the village you might see cattle 
dealers with cows and oxen for sale, and pig drovers 
with herds of squeaking swine, and farmers with 
cartloads of cabbages, turnips, onions, and all other 
produce of the soil. Now and then a farmer's red- 
faced wife trotted along on horseback, with butter 
and cheese in two large panniers. The people cf the 
village, with country squires, and other visitors from 
the neighborhood, walked hither and thither, trading, 
jesting, quarrelling and making just such a bustle as 



46 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

their fathers and grandfathers had made half a cen- 
tury before. 

In one part of the street there was a puppet show, 
with a ridiculous merryandrew, who kept both 
grown people and children in a roar of laughter. On 
the opposite side was the old stone church of Ut- 
toxeter, with ivy climbing up its walls and partly 
obscuring its Gothic windows. 

There was a clock in the gray tower of the ancient 
church, and the hands on the dialplate had now al- 
most reached the hour of noon. At this busiest hour 
of the market a strange old gentleman was seen mak- 
ing his way among the crowd. He was very tall and 
bulky, and wore a brown coat and smallclothes, with 
black worsted stockings and buckled shoes. On his 
head was a three-cornered hat, beneath which a bushy 
gray wig thrust itself out, all in disorder. The old 
gentleman elbowed the people aside, and forced his 
way through the midst of them with a singular kind 
of gait, rolling his body hither and thither, so that he 
needed twice as much room as any other person there. 

" Make way, sir ! " he would cry out, in a loud, 
harsh voice, when somebody happened to interrupt 
his progress. " Sir, you intrude your person into 
the public thoroughfare ! " 

" What a queer old fellow this is ! " muttered the 
people among themselves, hardly knowing whether to 
laugh or to be angry. 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 47 

But when they looked into the venerable stranger's 
face, not the most thoughtless among them dared to 
offer him the least impertinence. Though his fea- 
tures were scarred and distorted with the scrofula, 
and though his eyes were dim and bleared, yet there 
was something of authority and wisdom in his look, 
which impressed them all with awe. So they stood 
aside to let him pass ; and the old gentleman made 
his way across the market-place, and paused near the 
corner of the ivy-mantled church. Just as he reached 
it the clock struck twelve. 

On the very spot of ground where the stranger 
now stood some aged people remembered that old 
Michael Johnson had formerly kept his book stall. 
The little children who had once bought picture 
books of him were grandfathers now. 

" Yes ; here is the very spot ! " muttered the old 
gentleman to himself. 

There this unknown personage took his stand and 
removed the three-cornered hat from his head. It was 
the busiest hour of the day. What with the hum of 
human voices, the lowing of cattle, the squeaking of 
pigs, and the laughter caused by the merryandrew, 
the market-place was in very great confusion. But 
the stranger seemed not to notice it any more than 
if the silence of a desert were around him. He was 
rapt in his own thoughts. Sometimes he raised his 
furrowed brow to heaven, as if in prayer ; sometimes 



48 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 



he bent his head, as if an insupportable weight of sor- 
row were upon him. It increased the awfulness of his 
aspect that there was a motion of his head and an 
almost continual tremor throughout his frame, with 
singular twitchings and contortions of his featuies. 

The hot sun blazed upon his unprotected head ; 
but he seemed not to feel its fervor. A dark cloud 
swept across the sky and raindrops pattered into 
the market-place ; but the stranger heeded not the 
shower. The people began to gaze at the mysterious 
old gentleman with superstitious fear and wonder. 
Who could he be ? Whence did he come ? Where- 
fore was he standing bareheaded in the market- 
place ? Even the schoolboys left the merryandrew 
and came to gaze, with wide-open eyes, at this tall, 
strange-looking old man. 

There was a cattle drover in the village who had 
recently made a journey to the Smithfield market, in 
London. No sooner had this man thrust his way 
through the throng and taken a look at the unknown 
personage than he whispered to one of his acquaint- 
ances, — 

" I say, neighbor Hutchins, would ye like to know 
who this old gentleman is ? " 

" Ay, that I would," replied neighbor Hutchins , 
" for a queerer chap I never saw in my life. Some- 
how it makes me feel small to look at him. He's 
more than a common man." 




BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 49 

* k You may well say so," answered trie cattle 
drover, "Why, that's the famous Doctor Samuel 
Johnson, who they say is the greatest and learnedest 
man in England. I saw him in London streets, 
walking with one Mr. Boswell." 

Yes ; the poor boy, the friendless Sam, with whom 
we began our story, had become the famous Doctor 
Samuel Johnson. He was universally acknowledged as 
the wisest man and greatest writer in all England. 
He had given shape and permanence to his native 
language by his Dictionary. Thousands upon thou- 
sands of people had read his Idler, his Rambler, and 
his Rasselas. Noble and wealthy men and beautiful 
ladies deemed it their highest privilege to be his com- 
panions. Even the King of Great Britain had sought 
his acquaintance, and told him what an honor he 
considered it that such a man had been born in his 
dominions. He was now at the summit of literary 
renown. 

But all his fame could not extinguish the bitter re 
membrance which had tormented him through life. 
Never, never had he forgotten his father's sorrowful 
and upbraiding look. Never, though the old man's 
troubles had been over so many years, had he forgiven 
himself for inflicting such a pang upon his heart. 
And now, in his old age, he had come hither to do 
penance, by standing at noonday, in the market-place 
of Uttoxeter, on the very spot where Michael Johnson 



50 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

had once kept his book stall. The aged and illustrious 
man had done what the poor boy refused to do. By 
thus expressing his deep repentance and humiliatioD 
of heart, he hoped to gain peace of conscience and 
the forgiveness of God. 

My dear children, if you have grieved (I will not 
say your parents, but if you have grieved) the heart 
of any human being who has a claim upon your love, 
then think of Samuel Johnson's penance. Will it 
not be better to redeem the error now than to endure 
the agony of remorse for fifty years ? "Would you 
not rather say to a brother, " I have erred ; forgive 
me ! " than perhaps to go hereafter and shed bitter 
tears upon his grave ? 

Hardly was the story concluded when George has- 
tily arose, and Edward likewise, stretching forth his 
hands into the darkness that surrounded him to find 
his brother. Both accused themselves of unkindness ; 
each besought the other's forgiveness ; and having 
done so, the trouble of their hearts vanished away like 
a dream. 

"I am glad! I am so glad!" said Emily, in a 
low, earnest voice. " Now I shall sleep quietly to- 
night." % 

" My sweet child," thought Mrs. Temple as she 
kissed her, "mayest thou never know how much 
strife there is on earth ! It would cost thee many a 
uight's rest." 



CHAPTEE VI. 

About this period Mr. Temple found it necessary 
to take a journey, which interrupted the series of 
Biographical Stories for several evenings. In the 
interval, Edward practised various methods of em- 
ploying and amusing his mind. 

Sometimes he meditated upon beautiful objects 
which he had formerly seen, until the intensity of 
his recollection seemed to restore him the gift of 
sight and place every thing anew before his eyes. 
Sometimes he repeated verses of poetry which he 
did not know to be in his memory until he found 
them there just at the time of need. Sometimes 
he attempted to solve arithmetical questions which 
had perplexed him while at school. 

Then, with his mother's assistance, he learned the 
letters of the string alphabet, which is used in some 
of the institutions for the blind in Europe. When 
one of his friends gave him a leaf of St. Mark's Gos- 
pel, printed in embossed characters, he endeavored 



52 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

to read it by passing his fingers over the letters as 
blind children do. 

His brother George was now very kind, and spent 
so much time in the darkened chamber that Edward 
often insisted upon his going out to play. George 
toid him all about the affairs at school, and related 
many amusing incidents that happened among his 
comrades, and informed him what sports were now in 
fashion, and whose kite soared the highest, and whose 
little ship sailed fleetest on the Frog Pond. As for 
Emily, she repeated stories which she had learned 
from a new book called The Flower People, in 
which the snowdrops, the violets, the columbines, 
the roses, and all that lovely tribe are represented as 
telling their secrets to a little girl. The flowers 
talked sweetly, as flowers should ; and Edward al- 
most fancied that he could behold their bloom and 
smell their fragrant breath. 

Thus, in one way or another, the dark days of 
Edward's confinement passed not unhappily. In due 
time his father returned ; and the next evening, when 
the family were assembled, he began a story. 

" I must first observe, children," said he, (i that 
oome writers deny the truth of the incident which 1 
am about to relate to you. There certainly is but 
little evidence in favor of it. Other respectable 
writers, however, tell it for a fact ; and, at all events, 
it is an interesting story, and has an excellent moral.' 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIE3. 53 

So Mr. Temple proceeded to talk about the early 
days of 

OLIVER CROMWELL. 

Born 1599. Died 1658. 

Not long after King James I. took the place of 
Qaeen Elizabeth on the throne of England, there 
lived an English knight at a place called Hinchin- 
brooke. His name was Sir Oliver Cromwell. He 
spent his life, I suppose, pretty much like other Eng- 
lish knights and squires in those days, hunting hares 
and foxes and drinking large quantities of ale and 
wine. The old house in which he dwelt had been 
occupied by his ancestors before him for a good many 
years. In it there was a great hall, hung round with 
coats of arms and helmets, cuirasses and swords, 
which his forefathers had used in battle, and with 
horns of deer and tails of foxes which they or Sir 
Oliver himself had killed in the chase. 

This Sir Oliver Cromwell had a nephew, who had 
been called Oliver, after himself, but who was gener- 
ally known in the family by the name of little Noll. 
His father was a younger brother of Sir Oliver. The 
child was often sent to visit his uncle, who probably 
found him a troublesome little fellow to take care of. 
He was forever in mischief, and always running into 
some danger or other, from which he seemed to 
escape only by miracle. 



54 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

Even while he was an infant in the cradle a strange 
accident had befallen him. A huge ape, which was 
kept in the family, snatched up little Noll in his fore 
paws and clambered with him to the roof of the house. 
There this ugly beast sat grinning at the affrighted 
spectators, as if it had done the most praiseworthy 
thing imaginable. Fortunately, however, he brought 
the child safe down again; and the event was after- 
wards considered an omen that Noll would reach a 
very elevated station in the world. 

One morning, when Noll was five or six years old, 
a royal messenger arrived at Hinchinbrooke with 
tidings that King James was coming to dine with Sir 
Oliver Cromwell. This was a high honor, to be sure, 
but a very great trouble ; for all the lords and ladies, 
knights, squires, guards and yeomen, who waited on 
the king, were to be feasted as well as himself ; and 
more provisions would be eaten and more wine drunk 
in that one day than generally in a month. How- 
ever, Sir Oliver expressed much thankfulness for the 
king's intended visit, and ordered his butler and cook 
to make the best preparations in their power. So a 
great fire was kindled in the kitchen ; and the neigh- 
bors knew by the smoke which poured out of the 
chimney that boiling, baking, stewing, roasting, and 
frying were going on merrily. 

By and by the sound of trumpets was heard ap- 
proaching nearer and nearer ; and a heavy, old* 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 55 

fashioned coach, surrounded by guards on horseback, 
drove up to the house. Sir Oliver, with his hat in 
his hand, stood at the gate to receive the king. His 
majesty was dressed in a suit of green not very new : 
he had a feather in his hat and a triple ruff round 
his neck, and over his shoulder was slung a hunting 
horn instead of a sword. Altogether he had not the 
most dignified aspect in the world ; but the spectators 
gazed at him as if there was something superhuman 
and divine in his person. They even shaded their 
eyes with their hands, as if they were dazzled by the 
glory of his countenance. 

" How are ye, man ? " cried King James, speak- 
ing in a Scotch accent ; for Scotland was his native 
country. " By my crown, Sir Oliver, but I am glad 
to see ye ! " 

The good knight thanked the king; at the same 
time kneeling down while his majesty alighted. 
When King James stood on the ground, he directed 
Sir Oliver's attention to a little boy who had come 
with him in the coach. He was six or seven years 
old, and wore a hat and feather, and was more richly 
dressed than the king himself. Though by no means 
an ill-looking child, he seemed shy, or even sulky ; 
and his cheeks were rather pale, as if he had been 
kept moping within doors, instead of being sent out 
to play in the sun and wind. 

if I have brought my son Charlie to see ye," said 



56 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

the king. " I hope, Sir Oliver, ye have a son of 
your own to be his playmate." 

Sir Oliver Cromwell made a reverential bow to the 
little prince, whom one of the attendants had now 
taken out of the coach. It was wonderful to see how 
all the spectators, even the aged men with their gray 
beards, humbled themselves before this child. They 
bent their bodies till their beards almost swept the 
dust. They looked as if they were ready to kneel 
down and worship him. 

The poor little prince ! From his earliest infancy 
not a soul had dared to contradict him ; every body 
around him had acted as if he were a superior being ; 
so that, of course, he had imbibed the same opinion 
of himself. He naturally supposed that the whole 
kingdom of Great Britain and all its inhabitants had 
been created solely for his benefit and amusement. 
This was a sad mistake ; and it cost him dear enough 
after he had ascended his father's throne. 

" What a noble little prince he is ! " exclaimed Sir 
Oliver, lifting his hands in admiration. si No, please 
your majesty, I have no son to be the playmate of 
his royal highness ; but there is a nephew of mine 
some where about the house. He is near the prince's 
age, and will be but too happy to wait upon his royal 
highness." 

" Send for him, man ! send for him ! " said the 
king. 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 57 

Buu as it happened, thert was no need of sending 
for Master Noll. While King James was speaking, 
a rugged, boldfaced, sturdy little urchin thrust him- 
self through the throng of courtiers and attendants 
and greeted the prince with a broad stare. His 
doublet and hose (which had been put on new and 
clean in honor of the king's visit) were already soiled 
and torn with the rough play in which he had spent 
the morning. He looked no more abashed than if 
King James were his uncle and the prince one 
of his customary playfellows. 

This was little Noll himself. 

" Here, please your majesty, is my nephew," said 
Sir Oliver, somewhat ashamed of Noll's appearance 
and demeanor. " Oliver, make your obeisance to the 
king's majesty." 

The boy made a pretty respectful obeisance to the 
king ; for in those days children were taught to pay 
reverence to their elders. King James, who prided 
himself greatly on his scholarship, asked Noll a few 
questions in the Latin grammar, and then introduced 
him to his son. The little prince, in a very grave 
and dignified manner, extended his hand, not for Noll 
to shake, but that he might kneel down and kiss it. 

" Nephew," said Sir Oliver, " pay your duty to 
the prince." 

" I owe him no duty," cried Noll, thrusting aside 
the prince's hand with a rude laugh. " Why should 
I kiss that boy's hand ? " 



58 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

All the courtiers were amazed and confounded, 
and Sir Oliver the most of all. But the king laughed 
heartily, saying, that little Noll had a stubborn Eng- 
lish spirit, and that it was well for his son to learn 
betimes what sort of a people he was to rule over. 

So King James and his train entered the house ; 
and the prince, with Noll and some other children, 
was sent to play in a separate room while his majesty 
was at dinner. The young people soon became ac- 
quainted ; for boys, whether the sons of monarchs 
or. of peasants, all like play, and are pleased with one 
another's society. What games they diverted them- 
selves with I cannot tell. Perhaps they played at 
ball — perhaps at blindman's buff — perhaps at leap 
frog — perhaps at prison bars. Such games have been 
in use for hundreds of years ; and princes as well as 
poor children have spent some of their happiest hours 
in playing at them. 

Meanwhile King James and his nobles were feast- 
ing with Sir Oliver in the great hall. The king sat 
in a gilded chair, under a canopy, at the head of a 
long table. Whenever any of the company addressed 
him, it was with the deepest reverence. If the at- 
tendants offered him wine or the various delicacies 
of the festival, it was upon their bended knees. You 
would have thought, by these tokens of worship, 
that the monarch was a supernatural being ; only he 
seemed to have quite as much need of those vulgar 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 59 

matters, food and drink, as any other person at the 
table. But fate had ordained that good King James 
should not finish his dinner in peace. 

All of a sudden there arose a terrible uproar in the 
room where the children were at play. Angry shouts 
and shrill cries of alarm were mixed up together ; 
while the voices of elder persons were likewise heard, 
trying to restore order among the children. The 
king and every body else at table looked aghast ; 
for perhaps the tumult made them think that a gen- 
eral rebellion had broken out. 

" Mercy on us ! " muttered Sir Qliver ; " that 
graceless nephew of mine is in some mischief or 
other. The naughty little whelp ! " 

Getting up from table, he ran to see what, was 
the matter, followed by many of the guests, and the 
king among them. They all crowded to the door of 
the play room. 

On looking in, they beheld the little Prince Charles, 
with his ricn dress all torn and covered with the dust 
of the floor. His royal blood was streaming from his 
nose in great abundance. He gazed at Noll with a 
mixture of rage and affright, and at the same time a 
puzzled expression, as if he could not understand how 
any mortal boy should dare to give him a beating. 
As for Noll, there stood his sturdy little figure, bold 
as a lion, looking as if he were ready to fight, not 
only the prince, but the king and kingdom too. 



60 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

" You little villain ! " cried his uncle. (i What 
have you been about ? Down on your knees, this 
instant, and ask the prince's pardon. How dare you 
lay your hands on the king's majesty's royal son ? " 

" He struck me first," grumbled the valiant little 
Noll ; " and I've only given him his due." 

Sir Oliver and the guests lifted up their hands in 
astonishment, and horror. No punishment seemed 
severe enough for this wicked little varlet, who had 
dared to resent a blow from the king's own son. 
Some of the courtiers were of opinion that Noll 
should be sent prisoner to the Tower of London and 
brought to trial for high treason. Others, in their 
great zeal for the king's service, were about to lay 
hands on the boy and chastise him in the royal 
presence. 

But King James, who sometimes showed a good 
deal of sagacity, ordered them to desist. 

" Thou art a bold boy," said he, looking fixedly at 
little Noll ; " and, if thou live to be a man, my son 
Charlie would do wisely to be friends with thee." 

" I never will ! " cried the little prince, stamping 
his foot. 

" Peace, Charlie, peace ! " said the king ; then ad- 
dressing Sir Oliver and the attendants, " Harm not 
the urchin ; for he has taught my son a good lesson, 
is Heaven do but give him grace to profit by it 
Hereafter, should he be tempted to tyrannize o\er 



BIOGEAPm 'AL STORIES. 61 

the stubborn race of Englishmen, let him remembei 
Lttle Noll Cromwell and his own bloody nose." 

So the king finished his dinner and departed ; and 
for many a long year the childish quarrel between 
Prince Charles and Noll Cromwell was forgotten. 
The prince, indeed, might have lived a happier life, 
and have met a mere peaceful death, had he remem- 
bered that quarrel and the moral which his father 
drew from it. But when old King James was dead, 
and Charles sat upon his throne, he seemed to forget 
that he was but a man, and that his meanest subjects 
were men as well as he. He wished to have the 
property and lives of the people of England entirely 
at his own disposal. But the Puritans, and all who 
loved liberty, rose against him, and beat him in many 
battles, and pulled him down from his throne. 

Throughout this war between the king and nobles 
on one side and the people of England on the other 
there was a famous leader, who did more towards the 
ruin of royal authority than all the rest. The con- 
test seemed like a wrestling match between King 
Charles and this strong man. And the king was 
overthrown. 

When the discrowned monarch was brought to 
trial, that warlike leader sat in the judgment hall. 
Many judges were present besides himself; but he 
alone had the power to save King Charles or to 
doom him to the scaffold. After sentence was pro- 



62 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

nounced, this victorious general was entreated by hia 
own children, on their knees, to rescue his majesty 
from death. 

" No ! " said he, sternly. " Better that one man 
should perish than that the whole country should 
be ruined for his sake. It is resolved that he shall 
die ! " 

When Charles, no longer a king, was led to the 
scaffold, his great enemy stood at a window of the 
royal palace of Whitehall. He beheld the poor vic- 
tim of pride, and an evil education, and misused 
power, as he laid his head upon the block. He 
looked on with a steadfast gaze while a black-veiled 
executioner lifted the fatal axe and smote off that 
anointed head at a single blow. 

" It is a righteous deed," perhaps he said to him- 
self. " Now Englishmen may enjoy their rights." 

At night, when the body of Charles was laid in 
the coffin, in a gloomy chamber, the general entered, 
lighting himself with a torch. Its gleam showed that 
he was now growing old ; his visage was scarred 
with the many battles in which he had led the van ; 
his brow was wrinkled with care and with the continual 
exercise of stern authority. Probably there was not 
a single trait, either of aspect or manner, that be- 
longed to the little Noll who had battled so stoutly 
with Prince Charles. Yet this was he ! 

He lifted the coffin lid, and caused the light of his 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 63 

torch to fall upon the dead monarch's face. Then, 
probably, his mind went back over all the marvellous 
events that had brought the hereditary King of Eng- 
land to this dishonored coffin, and had raised himself, 
a humble individual, to the possession of kingly 
power. He was a king, though without the empty 
title or the glittering crown. 

" Why was it," said Cromwell to himself, or 
might have said, as he gazed at the pale features in 
the coffin, — " why was it that this great king fell, 
and that poor Noll Cromwell has gained all the power 
of the realm ? " 

And, indeed, why was it ? 

King Charles had fallen, because, in his manhood 
the same as when a child, he disdained to feel that 
every human creature was his brother. He deemed 
himself a superior being, and fancied that his sub- 
jects were created only for a king to rule over. And 
Cromwell rose, because, in spite of his many faults, 
he mainly fought for the rights and freedom of his 
fellow-men ; and therefore the poor and the oppressed 
all lent their strength to him. 

" Dear father, how I should hate to be a king ! " 
exclaimed Edward. 

"And would you like to be a Cromwell ? " in- 
quired his father. 

r ' I should like it well," replied George ; " only ] 



64 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

would not have put the poor old king to death. T 
would have sent him out of the kingdom, or perhaps 
have allowed him to live in a small house near the 
gate of the royal palace. It was too severe to cut 
off his head." 

(i Kings are in such an unfortunate position," said 
Mr. Temple, " that they must either be almost deified 
by their subjects, or else be dethroned and beheaded. 
In either case it is a pitiable lot." 

" O, I had rather be blind than be a king ! " said 
Edward. 

" Well, my dear Edward," observed his mother, 
with a smile, " I am glad you are convinced that yoiu 
own lot is not the hardest in the world." 



CHAPTER VII. 

It was a pleasant sight, for those who had eyes, 
to see how patiently the blinded little boy now sub- 
mitted to what he had at first deemed an intolerable 
calamity. The beneficent Creator has not allowed our 
comfort to depend on the enjoyment of any single 
sense. Though he has made the world so very beau- 
tiful, yet it is possible to be happy without ever be- 
holding the blue sky, or the green and flowery earth, 
or the kind faces of those whom we love. Thus it 
appears that all the external beauty of the universe 
is a free gift from God over and above what is neces- 
sary to our comfort. How grateful, then, should we 
be to that divine Benevolence, which showers even 
superfluous bounties upon us ! 

One truth, therefore, which Edward's blindness 
had taught him was, that his mind and soul could 
dispense with the assistance of his eyes. Doubtless, 
however, he would have found this lesson far more 
difficult to learn had it not been for the affection of 
those around him. His parents, and George and 
Emily, aided him to bear his misfortune; if possible, 
they would have lent him their own eyes. And tins 



66 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

too, was a good lesson for him. It taught him how 
dependent on one another God has ordained us to 
be, insomuch that all the necessities of mankind 
should incite them to mutual love. 

So Edward loved his friends, and perhaps all the 
world, better than he ever did before. And he felt 
grateful towards his father for spending the evenings 
in telling him stories — more grateful, probably, than 
any of my little readers will feel towards me for so 
carefully writing these same stories down. 

" Come, dear father," said he, the next evening, 
" now tell us about some other little boy who was 
destined to be a famous man." 

" How would you like a story of a Boston boy ? ' 
asked his father. 

" O, pray let us have it ! " cried George, eagerly. 
" It will be all the better if he has been to our schools 
and has coasted on the Common, and sailed boats in the 
Frog Pond. I shall feel acquainted with him then.'' 

" Well, then," said Mr. Temple, " I will introduce 
you to a Boston boy whom all the world became ac- 
quainted with after he grew to be a man." 

The story was as follows : — 

BENJAMIN FKANKLIN. 
Born 1706. Died 1790. 

In the year 1716, or about that period, a boy used 
to be seen in the streets of Boston who was known 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 67 

among his schoolfellows and playmates by the name 
of Ben Franklin. Ben was born in 1706 ; so that 
he was now about ten years old. His father, who 
had come over from England, was a soap boiler and 
tallow chandler, and resided in Milk Street, not far 
from the Old South Church. 

Ben was a bright boy at his book, and even a 
brighter one when at play with his comrades. He 
had some remarkable qualities which always seemed 
to give him the lead, whether at sport or in more 
serious matters. I might tell you a number of amus- 
ing anecdotes about him. You are acquainted, I 
suppose, with his famous story of the Whistle, and 
how he bought it with a whole pocket full of coppers 
and afterwards repented of his bargain. But Ben 
had grown a great boy since those days, and had 
gained wisdom by experience ; for it was one of his 
peculiarities, that no incident ever happened to him 
without teaching him some valuable lesson. Thus 
he generally profited more by his misfortunes than 
many people do by the most favorable events that 
could befall them. 

Ben's face was already pretty well known to the 
inhabitants of Boston. The selectmen and other 
people of note often used to visit his father, for the 
sake of talking about the affairs of the town or prov- 
ince. Mr. Franklin was considered a person of great 
wisdom and integrity, and was respected by all who 



68 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

knew him, although he supported his family by the 
humble trade of boiling soap and making tallow 
candles. 

While his father and the visitors were holding deep 
consultations about public affairs, little Ben would sit 
on his stool in a corner, listening with the greatest 
interest, as if he understood every word. Indeed, 
his features were so full of intelligence that there 
could be but little doubt, not only that he understood 
what was said, but that he could have expressed some 
very sagacious opinions out of his own mind. But 
in those days boys were expected to be silent in the 
presence of their elders. However, Ben Franklin 
was looked upon as a very promising lad, who would 
talk and act wisely by and by. 

" Neighbor Franklin," his father's friends would 
sometimes say, " you ought to send this boy to col- 
lege and make a minister of him." 

" I have often thought of it," his father would re- 
ply ; " and my brother Benjamin promises to give 
him a great many volumes of manuscript sermons, 
in case he should be educated for the church. But 
I have a large family to support, and cannot afford 
the expense." 

In fact, Mr. Franklin found it so difficult to pro- 
vide bread for his family, that, when the boy was ten 
years old, it became necessary to take him from 
school. Ben was then employed in cutting candle 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 69 

wicks into equal lengths and filling the moulds with 
tallow , and many families in Boston spent their even- 
ings by the light of the candles which he had helped 
to make. Thus, you see, in his early days, as well 
as in his manhood, his labors contributed to throw 
light upon dark matters. 

Busy as his life now was, Ben still found time to 
keep company with his former schoolfellows. He 
and the other boys were very fond of fishing, and 
spent many of their leisure hours on the margin of 
the mill pond, catching flounders, perch, eels, and 
tomcod, which came up thither with the tide. The 
place where they fished is now, probably, covered with 
stone pavements and brick buildings, and thronged 
with people and with vehicles of all kinds. But 
at that period it was a marshy spot on the outskirts 
of the town, where gulls flitted and screamed over- 
head and salt meadow grass grew under foot. 

On the edge of the water there was a deep bed of 
clay, in which the boys were forced to stand while 
they caught their fish. Here they dabbled in mud 
and mire like a flock of ducks. 

** This is very uncomfortable," said Ben Franklin 
one day to his comrades, while they were standing 
mid-leg deep in the quagmire. 

tl So it is," said the other boys. " What a pity we 
have no better place to stand ! " 

If it had not been for Ben, nothing more would 



70 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

have been done or said about the matter. But it was 
not in his nature to be sensible of an inconvenience 
without using his best efforts to find a remedy. So, 
as he and his comrades were returning from the 
water side, Ben suddenly threw down his string of 
fish with a very determined air. 

'* Boys," cried he, " I have thought of a scheme 
which will be greatly for our benefit and for the 
public benefit." 

It was queer enough, to be sure, to hear this little 
chap — this rosy-cheeked, ten-year-old boy — talking 
about schemes for the public benefit ! Nevertheless, 
his companions were ready to listen, being assured 
that Ben's scheme, whatever it was, would be well 
worth their attention. They remembered how saga- 
ciously he had conducted all their enterprises ever 
since he had been old enough to wear smallclothes. 

They remembered, too, his wonderful contrivance 
of sailing across the mill pond by lying flat on his 
back in the water and allowing himself to be drawn 
along by a paper kite. If Ben could do that, he 
might certainly do any thing. 

" What is your scheme, Ben ? — what is it ? " 
cried they all. 

It so happened that they had now come to a spot 
of ground where a new house was to be built. Scat- 
tered round about lay a great many large stones 
which were *o be used for the cellar and foundation. 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 71 

Ben mounted upon the highest of these stones, so 
that he might speak with the more authority. 

f * You know, lads," said he, " what a plague it is 
to be forced to stand in the quagmire yonder — over 
shoes and stockings (if we wear any) in mud and 
water. See ! I am bedaubed to the knees of my 
smallclothes; and you are all in the same pickle. 
Unless we can find some remedy for this evil, our fish- 
ing business must be entirely given up. And, sure- 
ly, this would be a terrible misfortune ! " 

" That it would ! that it would ! " said his com- 
rades, sorrowfully. 

" Now, I propose," continued Master Benjamin, 
" that we build a wharf, for the purpose of carrying 
on our fisheries. You see these stones. The work- 
men mean to use them for the underpinning of a 
house ; but that would be for only one man's advan- 
tage. My plan is to take these same stones and car- 
ry them to the edge of the water and build a wharf 
with them. This will not only enable us to carry on 
the fishing business with comfort and to better advan- 
tage, but it will likewise be a great convenience to 
boats passing up and down the stream. Thus, instead 
of one man, fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand, besides 
oui selves, may be benefited by these stones. What 
cay you, lads ? Shall we build the wharf? " 

Ben's proposal was received with one of those up- 
roarious shouts wherewith boys usually express theii 



72 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

delight at whatever completely suits their views. No< 
body thought of questioning the right and justice of 
building a wharf with stones that belonged to another 
person. 

"Hurrah! hurrah!" shouted they. "Let's set 
about it." 

It was agreed that they should all be on the spot 
that evening and commence their grand public enter- 
prise by moonlight. Accordingly, at the appointed 
time, the whole gang of youthful laborers assembled, 
and eagerly began to remove the stones. They had 
not calculated how much toil would be requisite in 
this important part of their undertaking. The very 
first stone which they laid hold of proved so heavy 
that it almost seemed to be fastened to the ground. 
Nothing but Ben Franklin's cheerful and resolute 
spirit could have induced them to persevere. 

Ben, as might be expected, was the soul of the 
enterprise. By his mechanical genius, he contrived 
methods to lighten the labor of transporting the stones, 
so that one boy, under his directions, would perforin 
as much as half a dozen if left to themselves. When- 
ever their spirits flagged he had some joke ready, 
which seemed to renew their strength, by setting thern 
all into a roar of laughter. And when, after an hour 
or two of hard work, the stones were transported ta 
the water side, Ben Franklin was the engineer to su- 
perintend the construction of the wharf. 



BiOGJtAPHK AL STORIEi 73 

The boys, like a colony of ants, performed a great 
deal of labor by their multitude, though the individ- 
ual strength of each could have accomplished but lit- 
tle. Finally, just as the moon sank below the horizon, 
the great work was finished. 

" Now, boys," cried Ben, " let's give three cheers 
and go home to bed. To-morrow we may catch fish 
at our ease." 

" Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah ! " shouted his com- 
rades. 

Then they all went home in such an ecstasy of de- 
light that they could hardly get a wink of sleep. 

The story was not yet finished ; but George's im- 
patience caused him to interrupt it. 

" How I wish that I could have helped to build 
that wharf!" exclaimed he. "It must have been 
glorious fun. Ben Franklin forever, say I." 

" It was a very pretty piece of work," said Mr. Tem- 
ple. " But wait till you hear the end of the story." 

" Father," inquired Edward, " whereabouts in 
Boston was the mill pond on which Ben built his 
wharf?" 

" I do not exactly know," answered Mr. Temple ; 
" but I suppose it to have been on the northern verge 
of the town, in the vicinity of what are now called 
Merrimack and Charlestown Streets. That thronged 
portion of the city was once a marsh. Some of it, 
in fact, was covered with water." 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

As the children had no more questions to ask, Mr. 
Temple proceeded to relate what consequences en- 
sued from the building of Ben Franklin's wharf. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

Continued. 

In the morning, when the early sunbeams were 
gleaming on the steeples and roofs of the town and 
gilding the water that surrounded it, the masons 
came, rubbing their eyes, to begin their work at the 
foundation of the new house. But, on reaching the 
spot, they rubbed their eyes so much the harder. 
What had become of their heap of stones ? 

" Why, Sam," said one to another, in great per- 
plexity, " here 's been some witchcraft at work while 
we were asleep. The stones must have flown away 
.hrough the air ! " 

" More likely they have been stolen ! " answered 
Sam, 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 75 

6( But who on earth would think of stealing a heap 
of stones ? " cried a third. " Could a man carry 
them away in his pocket ? " 

The master mason, who was a gruff kind of man, 
stood scratching his head, and said nothing at first. 
But, looking carefully on the ground, he discerned 
innumerable tracks of little feet, some with shoes 
and some barefoot. Following these tracks with his 
eye, he saw that they formed a beaten path towards 
the water side. 

" Ah, I see what the mischief is," said he, nod- 
ding his head. " Those little rascals, the boys, — they 
have stolen our stones to build a wharf with ! " 

The masons immediately went to examine the new 
structure. And to say the truth, it was well worth 
looking at, so neatly and with such admirable skill 
had it been planned and finished. The stones were 
put together so securely that there was no danger 
of their being loosened by the tide, however swiftly 
it might sweep along. There was a broad and safe 
platform to stand upon, whence the little fishermen 
might cast their lines into deep water and draw up 
fish in abundance. Indeed, it almost seemed as if 
Ben and his comrades might be forgiven for taking 
the stones, because they had done their job in such a 
workmanlike manner. 

" The chaps that built this wharf understood their 
business pretty well," said one of the masons. "1 



76 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

should not be ashamed of such a piece of woik 
myseli." 

But the master mason did not seem to enjoy the 
joke. He was one of those unreasonable people 
who care a great deal more for their own rights and 
privileges than for the convenience of all the rest of 
the world. 

" Sam," said he, more gruffly than usual, " go call 
a constable." 

So Sam called a constable, and inquiries were set 
on foot to discover the perpetrators of the theft. In 
the course of the day warrants were issued, with the 
signature of a justice of the peace, to take the bodies 
of Benjamin Franklin and other evil-disposed per- 
sons who had stolen a heap of stones. If the owner 
of the stolen property had not been more merciful 
than the master mason, it might have gone hard with 
our friend Benjamin and his fellow-laborers. But, 
luckily for them, the gentleman had a respect for 
Ben's father, and, moreover, was amused with the 
spirit of the whole affair. He therefore let the cul- 
prits off pretty easily. 

But, when the constables were dismissed, the poor 
boys had to go through another trial, and receive 
sentence, and suffer execution, too, from their own 
fathers. Many a rod, I grieve to say, was worn to 
the stump on that unlucky night. 

As for Ben, he was less afraid of a whipping than 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 77 

of his father's disapprobation. Mr. Franklin, as I 
have mentioned before, was a sagacious man, and also 
tin inflexibly upright one. He had read much for a 
person in his rank of life, and had pondered upon the 
ways of the world, until he had gained more wisdom 
than a whole library of books could have taught him. 
Ben had a greater reverence for his father than for 
any other person in the world, as well on account of 
his spotless integrity as of his practical sense and 
deep views of things. 

Consequently, after being released from the clutches 
of the law, Ben came into his father's presence with 
no small perturbation of mind. 

" Benjamin, come hither," began Mr. Franklin, in 
his customary solemn and weighty tone. 

The boy approached and stood before his father's 
chair, waiting reverently to hear what judgment this 
good man would pass upon his late offence. He felt 
that now the right and wrong of the whole matter 
would be made to appear. 

" Benjamin," said his father, " what could induce 
you to take property which did not belong to you ? " 

" Why, father," replied Ben, hanging his head at 
first, but then lifting his eyes to Mr. Franklin's face, 
" if it had been merely for my own benefit, I never 
should have dreamed of it. But I knew that the 
wharf would be a public convenience. If the owner 
of the stones should build a house with them, no- 



78 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

body will enjoy any advantage except himself. Now, 
I made use of them in a way that was for the advan- 
tage of many persons. I thought it right to aim at 
doing good to the greatest number." 

" My son," said Mr. Franklin, solemnly, " so far 
as it was in your power, you have done a greater 
harm to the public than to the owner of the stones." 

" How can that be, father ? " asked Ben. 

" Because, answered his father, " in building your 
wharf with stolen materials, you have committed a 
moral wrong. There is no more terrible mistake 
than to violate what is eternally right for the sake of 
a seeming expediency. Those who act upon such a 
principle do the utmost in their power to destroy all 
that is good in the world." 

" Heaven forbid ! " said Benjamin. 

" No act," continued Mr. Franklin, " can possibly 
be for the benefit of the public generally which in- 
volves injustice to any individual. It would be easy 
to prove this by examples. But, indeed, can we 
suppose that our all-wise and just Creator would 
have so ordered the affairs of the world that a wrong 
act should be the true method of attaining a right 
end ? It is impious to think so. And I do verily 
believe, Benjamin, that almost all the public and 
private misery of mankind arises from a neglect of 
this great truth — that evil can produce only evil 
— that good ends must be wrought out by good 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 



79 



K I will never forget it again/' said Benjamin, 
bowing his head. 

" Remember," concluded his father, " that, when- 
ever we vary from the highest rule of right, just so 
far we do an injury to the world. It may seem oth- 
erwise for the moment ; but, both in time and in 
eternity, it will be found so." 

To the close of his life Ben Franklin never forgot 
this conversation with his father ; and we have rea- 
son to suppose that, in most of his public and pri- 
vate career, he endeavored to act upon the principles 
which that good and wise man had then taught him. 

After the great event of building the wharf, Ben 
continued to cut wick yarn and fill candle moulds for 
about two years. But, as he had no love for that 
occupation, his father often took him to see various 
artisans at their work, in order to discover what trade 
he would prefer. Thus Ben learned the use of a 
great many tools, the knowledge of which afterwards 
proved very useful to him. But he seemed much 
inclined to go to sea. In order to keep him at home, 
and likewise to gratify his taste for letters, the lad 
was bound apprentice to his elder brother, who had 
lately set up a printing office in Boston. 

Here he had many opportunities of reading new 
books and of hearing instructive conversation. He 
exercised himself so successfully in writing composi- 
tion, that, when no more than thirteen or fourteen 



80 EIOGRAPHIOAL STORIES 

years old, he became a contributor to his brother's 
newspaper. Ben was also a versifier, if not a poet. 
He made two doleful ballads — one about the ship- 
wreck of Captain Worthilake ; and the other about 
the pirate Black Beard, who, not long before, in- 
fested the American seas. 

When Ben's verses were printed, his brother sent 
him to sell them to the townspeople wet from the 
press. " Buy my ballads ! " shouted Benjamin, as 
he trudged through the streets with a basket full on 
his arm. " Who'll buy a ballad about Black Beard ? 
A penny apiece ! a penny apiece ! Who'll buy my 
ballads ? " 

If one of those roughly composed and rudely 
printed ballads could be discovered now, it would be 
worth more than its weight in gold. 

In this way our friend Benjamin spent his boyhood 
and youth, until, on account of some disagreement 
with his brother, he left his native town and went to 
Philadelphia. He landed in the latter city, a home- 
less and hungry young man, and bought threepence 
worth of bread to satisfy his appetite. Not knowing 
where else to go, he entered a Quaker meeting house, 
sat down, and fell fast asleep. He has not told us 
whether his slumbers were visited by any dreams. 
But it would have been a strange dream, indeed, and 
an incredible one, that should have foretold how great 
a man he was destined to become, and how much he 



IS10GRAPHICAL STORIES. 81 

would be honored in that very city where he was 
now friendless and unknown. 

So here we finish our story of the childhood of 
Benjamin Franklin. One of these days, if you 
would know what he was in his manhood, you must 
read his own works and the history of American in- 
dependence. 

" Do let us hear a little more of him ! " said Ed- 
ward ; ( ' not that I admire him so much as many 
other characters ; but he interests me, because he was 
a Yankee boy." 

" My dear son," replied Mr. Temple, " it would 
require a whole volume of talk to tell you all that is 
worth knowing about Benjamin Franklin. There is 
a very pretty anecdote of his flying a kite in the midst 
of a thunder storm, and thus drawing down the light- 
ning from the clouds and proving that it was the 
same thing as electricity. His whole life would be 
an interesting story, if we had time to tell it." 

" But, pray, dear father, tell us what made him so 
famous," said George. "I have seen his portrait a 
great many times. There is a wooden bust of him 
in one of our streets ; and marble ones, I suppose, in 
some other places. And towns, and ships of war, 
and steamboats, and banks, and academies, and chil- 
dren are often named after Franklin. "Why should 
he have grown so very famous ? " 

"Your question is a reasonable one, George," an- 



82 UL0L.KAFH1CAL STORIES. 

swered his father. " I doubt whether Franklin's 
philosophical discoveries, important as they were, or 
even his vast political services, would have given him 
all the fame which he acquired. It appears to me 
that Poor Richard's Almanac did more than any 
thing else towards making him familiarly known to 
the public. As the writer of those proverbs which 
Poor Richard was supposed to utter, Franklin be- 
came the counsellor and household friend of almost 
every family in America. Thus it was the humblest 
of all his labors that has done the most for his fame." 

" I have read some of those proverbs," remarked 
Edward ; " but I do not like them. They are all 
about getting money or saving it." 

"Well," said his father, "they were suited to the 
condition of the country ; and their effect, upon the 
wnole, has doubtless been good — although they 
teach men but a very small portion of their duties." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Hitherto Mr. Temple's narratives had ail been 
about boys and men. But, the next evening, he be- 
thought himself that the quiet little Emily would 
perhaps be glad to hear the story of a child of her 
own sex. He therefore resolved to narrate the 
youthful adventures of Christina, of Sweden, who 
began to be a queen at the age of no more than six 
years. If we have any little girls among our readers, 
they must not suppose that Christina is set before 
them as a pattern of what they ought to be. On the 
contrary, the tale of her life is chiefly profitable as 
showing the evil effects of a wrong education, which 
caused this daughter of a king to be both useless and 
unhappy. Here follows the story. 

QUEEN CHRISTINA. 

Born 1626. Dikd 1689. 

In the royal palace at Stockholm, the capital city 
of Sweden, there was born, in 1626, a little princess 



84 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

The king, her father, gave her the name of Christina, 
in memory of a Swedish girl with whom he had been 
in love. His own name was Gnstavns Adolphus ; 
and he was also called the Lion of the North, because 
he had gained greater fame in war than any other 
prince or general then alive. With this valiant king 
for their commander, the Swedes had made them- 
selves terrible to the Emperor of Germany and to 
the King of France, and were looked upon as the 
chief defence of the Protestant religion. 

The little Christina was by no means a beautiful 
child. To confess the truth, she was remarkably 
plain. The queen, her mother, did not love her so 
much as she ought ; partly, perhaps, on account of 
Christina's want of beauty, and also because both 
the king and queen had wished for a son, who might 
have gained as great renown in battle as his father 
had. 

The king, however, soon became exceedingly fond 
of the infant princess. When Christina was very 
young she was taken violently sick. Gustavus Adol- 
phus, who was several hundred miles from Stock- 
holm, travelled night and day, and never rested until 
he held the poor child in his arms. On her recov- 
ery he made a solemn festival, in order to show his 
jo}' to the people of Sweden and express his grati 
tude to Heaven. After this event he took his daugh- 
ter with him in all the journeys which he made 
throughout his kingdom. 



UIOGRAPHICA.. STORIES. 85 

Christina soon proved herself a bold and sturdy 
little girl. When she was two years old, the king 
and herself, in the course of a journey, came to the 
strong fortress of Colmar. On the battlements were 
soldiers clad in steel" armor, which glittered in the 
sunshine. There were likewise great cannons, point- 
ing their black mouths at Gustavus and little Chris- 
tina, and ready to belch out their smoke and thun- 
der ; for, whenever a king enters a fortress, it is cus- 
tomary to receive him with a royal salute of artillery. 

But the captain of the fortress met Gustavus and 
his daughter as they were about to enter the gateway. 

" May it please your majesty," said he, taking off 
his steel cap and bowing profoundly, " I fear that, if 
we receive you with a salute of cannon, the little 
princess will be frightened almost to death." 

Gustavus looked earnestly at his daughter, and waa 
indeed apprehensive that the thunder of so many 
cannon might perhaps throw her into convulsions. 
He had almost a mind to tell the captain to let them 
enter the fortress quietly, as common people might 
have done, without all this head-splitting racket. 
But no ; this would not do. 

" Let them fire," said he, waving his hand. 

Christina is a soldier's daughter, and must learn 
to bear the noise of cannon." 

So the captain uttered the word of command, and 
immediately there was a terrible peal of thunder from 



86 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

the cannon, and such a gush of smoke that it envel- 
oped the whole fortress in its volumes. Bat, amid 
all the din and confusion, Christina was seen clapping 
her little hands and laughing in an ecstasy of de- 
light. Probably nothing ever pleased her. father so 
much as to see that his daughter promised to be fear- 
less as himself. He determined to educate her ex- 
actly as if she had been a boy, and to teach her all 
the knowledge needful to the ruler of a kingdom and 
the commander of an army. 

But Gustavus should have remembered that Prov- 
idence had created her to be a woman, and that it 
was not for him to make a man of her. 

However, the king derived great happiness from 
his beloved Christina. It must have been a pleasant 
sight to see the powerful monarch of Sweden playing 
in some magnificent hall of the palace with his merry 
little girl. Then he forgot that the weight of a king- 
dom rested upon his shoulders. He forgot that the 
wise Chancellor Oxenstiern was waiting to consult 
with him how to render Sweden the greatest nation 
of Europe. He forgot that the Emperor of Germany 
and the King of France were plotting together how 
they might pull him down from his throne. 

Yes ; Gustavus forgot all the perils, and cares, and 
pompous irksomeness of a royal life ; and was as hap- 
py, while playing with his child, as the humblest 
peasant in the realm of Sweden. How gayly did 



HIOGKAPHICAL STORIES, 87 

they dance along the marble floor of the palace, this 
valiant king, with his upright, martial figure, his 
war-worn visage, and commanding aspect, and the 
small, round form of Christina, with her rosy face of 
childish merriment ! Her little fingers were clasped 
in her father's hand, which had held the leading staff 
in many famous victories. His crown and sceptre 
were her playthings. She could disarm Gustavus of 
his sword, which was so terrible to the princes of 
Europe. 

But, alas ! the king was not long permitted to enjoy 
Christina's society. When she was four years old 
Gustavus was summoned to take command of the 
allied armies of Germany, which were fighting against 
the emperor. His greatest affliction was the neces- 
sity of parting with his child ; but people in such 
high stations have but little opportunity for domestic 
happiness. He called an assembly of the senators 
of Sweden and confided Christina to their care, say- 
ing, that each one of them must be a father to her if 
he himself should fall in battle. 

At the moment of his departure Christina ran 
towards him and began to address him with a speech 
which somebody had taught her for the occasion. 
Gustavus was busied with thoughts about the affairs 
of the kingdom, so that he did not immediately at- 
tend to the childish voice of his little girl. Chris- 
tina, who did not love to be unnoticed, immediately 
stopped short and pulled him by the coat. 



88 BIOGRAPHICAL SIORIES- 

" Father/' said she, " why do not you listen to 
my speech ? " 

In a moment the king forgot every thing except 
that he was parting with what he loved best in all the 
world. He caught the child in his arms, pressed her 
to his bosom, and burst into tears. Yes; though he 
was a brave man, and though he wore a steel corselet 
on his breast, and though armies were waiting for 
him to lead them to battle, still his heart melted 
within him, and he wept. Christina, too, was so 
afflicted that her attendants began to fear that she 
would actually die of grief. But probably she was 
soon comforted ; for children seldom remember their 
parents quite so faithfully as their parents remember 
them. 

For two years more Christina remained in the 
palace at Stockholm. The queen, her mother, had 
accompanied Gustavus to the wars. The child, there- 
fore, was left to the guardianship of five of the wisest 
men in the kingdom. But these wise men knew bet- 
ter how to manage the affairs of state than how to 
govern and educate a little girl so as to render her a 
good and happy woman. 

When two years had passed away, tidings were 
brought to Stockholm which filled every body with 
triumph and sorrow at the same time. The Swedes 
had won a glorious victory at Lutzen. But, alas ! the 
warlike King of Sweden, the Liou of the North, the 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 89 

father of our little Christina, had been slain at the 
foot of a great stone, which still marks the spot of 
that hero's death. 

Soon after this sad event, a general assembly, 01 
congress, consisting of deputations from the nobles, 
the clergy, the burghers, and the peasants of Sweden, 
was summoned to meet at Stockholm. It was for the 
purpose of declaring little Christina to be Queen of 
Sweden and giving her the crown and sceptre of her 
deceased father. Silence being proclaimed, the 
Chancellor Oxenstiern arose. 

" We desire to know," said he, ' l whether the peo- 
ple of Sweden will take the daughter of our dead 
king, Gustavus Adolphus, to be their queen." 

When the chancellor had spoken, an old man, with 
white hair and in coarse apparel, stood up in the 
midst of the assembly. He was a peasant, Lars Larr- 
son by name, and had spent most of his life in labor- 
ing on a farm. 

" Who is this daughter of Gustavus ? " asked the 
old man. "We do not know her. Let her be 
shown to us." 

Then Christina was brought into the hall and 
placed before the old peasant. It was strange, no 
doubt, to see a child — -a little giil of six years old — 
offered to the Swedes as their ruler instead of the 
brave king, her father, who had led them to victory 
so many times. Could her baby fingers wield a 



90 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

sword in war ? Could her childish mind govern the 
nation wisely in peace? 

But the Swedes do not appear to have asked them- 
selves these questions. Old Lars Larrson took 
Christina up in his arms and gazed earnestly into 
her face. He had known the great Gustavus well ; 
and his heart was touched when he saw the likeness 
which the little girl bore to that heroic monarch. 

" Yes," cried he, with the tears gushing down his 
furrowed cheeks ; " this is truly the daughter of our 
Gustavus ! Here is her father's brow ! — here is his 
piercing eye ! She is his very picture ! This child 
shall be our queen!" 

Then all the proud nobles of Sweden, and the rev- 
erend clergy, and the burghers, and the peasants, 
knelt down at the child's feet and kissed her hand. 

4f Long live Christina, Queen of Sweden ! " shouted 
they. 

Even after she was a woman grown Christina re- 
membered the pleasure which she felt in seeing all 
these men at her feet and hearing them acknowledge 
her as their supreme ruler. Poor child ! she was yet 
to learn that power does not insure happiness. As 
yet, however, she had not any real power. Ail the 
public business, it is true, was transacted in her name ; 
but the kingdom was governed by a number of the 
most experienced statesmen, who were called a re 
gency. 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 91 

But it was considered necessary that the little 
queen should be present at the public ceremonies, and 
should behave just as if she were in reality the ruler 
of the nation. When she was seven years of age, 
some ambassadors from the Czar of Muscovy came to 
the Swedish court. They wore long beards, and were 
clad in a strange fashion, with furs and other out- 
landish ornaments ; and as they were inhabitants of a 
half-civilized country, they did not behave like other 
people. The Chancellor Oxenstiern was afraid that 
the young queen would burst out a-laughing at the 
first sight of these queer ambassadors, or else that 
she would be frightened by their unusual aspect. 

" Why should I be frightened ? " said the little 
queen. " And do you suppose that I have no bet- 
ter manners than to laugh ? Only tell me how I must 
behave, and I will do it." 

Accordingly, the Muscovite ambassadors were in- 
troduced ; and Christina received them and answered 
their speeches with as much dignity and propriety 
as if she had been a grown woman. 

All this time, though Christina was now a queen, 
you must not suppose that she was left to act as she 
pleased. She had a preceptor, named John Mathias, 
who was a very learned man and capable of instruct- 
ing her in all the branches of science. But there 
was nobody to teach her the delicate graces and gen- 
tle virtues of a woman. She was surrounded almost 



92 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

entirely by men, and had learned to despise the 
society of her own sex. At the age of nine years 
she was separated from her mother, whom the Swedes 
did not consider a proper person to be intrusted with 
the charge of her. No little girl who sits by a New 
England fireside has cause to envy Christina in the 
royal palace at Stockholm. 

Yet she made great progress in her studies. She 
learned to read the classical authors of Greece and 
Rome, and became a great admirer of the heroes and 
poets of old times. Then, as for active exercises, she 
could ride on horseback as well as any man in her 
kingdom. She was fond of hunting, and could shoot 
at a mark with wonderful skill. But dancing was 
the only feminine accomplishment with which she 
had any acquaintance. 

She was so restless in her disposition that none of 
her attendants were sure of a moment's quiet neither 
day nor night. She grew up, I am sorry to say, a 
very unamiable person, ill tempered, proud, stubborn, 
and, in short, unfit to make those around her happy 
or to be happy herself. Let every little girl, who 
has been taught self-control and a due regard for the 
rights of others, thank Heaven that she has had bet- 
ter instruction than this poor little Queen of Sweden 

At the age of eighteen Christina was declared free 
to govern the kingdom by herself without the aid 
of a- regency. At this period of her life she was a 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 93 

70 img woman of striking aspect, a good figure, and 
intelligent face, but very strangely dressed. She wore 
a short habit of gray cloth, with a man's vest over it, 
and a black scarf around her neck ; but no jewels nor 
ornaments of any kind. 

Yet, though Christina was so negligent of her ap- 
pearance, there was something in her air and manner 
that proclaimed her as the ruler of a kingdom. Her 
eyes, it is said, had a very fierce and haughty look. 
Old General "Wrangel, who had often caused the 
enemies of Sweden to tremble in battle, actually 
trembled himself when he encountered the eyes of 
the queen. But it would have been better for 
Christina if she could have made people love her, by 
means of soft and gentle looks, instead of affright- 
ing them by such terrible glances. 

And now I have told you almost all that is amus- 
ing or instructive in the childhood of Christina. 
Only a few more words need be said about her ; for 
it is neither pleasant nor profitable to think of many 
things that she did after she grew to be a woman. 

When she had worn the crown a few years, sha 
began to consider it beneath her dignity to be called 
a queen, because the name implied that she belonged 
to the weaker sex. She therefore caused herself to 
be pi r>claimed king ; thus declaring to the world that 
she despised her own sex and was desirous of being 
ranked among men. But in the twenty -eighth year 



94 BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. 

of her age Christina grew tired of royalty, and re- 
solved to be neither a king nor a queen any longer. 
She took the crown from her head with her own 
hands, and ceased to be the ruler of Sweden. The 
people did not greatly regret her abdication ; for she 
had governed them ill, and had taken much of their 
property to supply her extravagance. 

Having thus given up her hereditary crown, Chris- 
tina left Sweden and travelled over many of the coun- 
tries of Europe. Every where she was received 
with great ceremony, because she was the daughter 
of the renowned Gustavus and had herself been a 
powerful queen. Perhaps you would like to know 
something about her personal appearance in the latter 
part of her life. She is described as wearing a man's 
vest, a short gray petticoat, embroidered with gold 
and silver, and a black wig, which was thrust awry 
upon her head. She wore no gloves, and so seldom 
washed her hands that nobody could tell what had 
been their original color. In this strange dress, and, 
I suppose, without washing her hands or face, she 
visited the magnificent court of Louis XIV. 

She died in 1689. None loved her while she lived, 
nor regretted her death, nor planted a single flower 
upon her grave. Happy are the little girls of Amer- 
ica, who are brought up quietly and tenderly at the 
domestic hearth, and thus become gentle and delicate 
women ! Mav none of them ever lose the loveliness 



BIOGRAPHICAL STOTIIES. 95 

of their sex by receiving such an education as that 
of Queen Christina I 

Emily, timid, quiet, and sensitive, was the very 
reverse of little Christina. She seemed shocked at 
the idea of such a bold and masculine character as 
has been described in the foregoing story. 

" T never could have loved her," whispered she to 
Mrs. Temple ; and then she added, with that love of 
personal neatness which generally accompanies purity 
of heart, " It troubles me to think of her unclean 
hands ! " 

" Christina was a sad specimen of womankind in- 
deed," said Mrs. Temple. " But it is very possible 
for a woman to have a strong mind, and to be fitted 
for the active business of life, without losing any of 
her natural delicacy. Perhaps some time or other 
Mr. Temple will tell you a story of such a woman." 

It was now time for Edward to be left to repose. 
His brother George shook him heartily by the hand, 
and hoped, as he had hoped twenty times before, that 
to-morrow or the next day Ned's eyes would be strong 
enough to look the sun right in the face. 

" Thank you, George," replied Edward, smiling ; 
" but I am not half so impatient as at first. If my 
bodily eyesight were as good as yours, perhaps I 
could not see things so distinctly with my mind's 
eye. But now there is a light within which shows 



96 BIOGRAPHICAL srORIES. 

me the little Quaker artist, Ben West, and Isaac 
Newton with his windmill, and stubborn Sam Johnson, 
and stout Noll Cromwell, and shrewd Ben Frank- 
lin, and little Queen Christina, with the Swedes 
kneeling at her feet. It seems as if I really saw 
these personages face to face. So I can bear the 
darkness outside of me pretty well." 

When Edward ceased speaking, Emily put up her 
mouth and kissed him as her farewell for the night. 

" Ah, I forgot ! " said Edward, with a sigh. " I 
cannot see any of your faces. What would it sig- 
nify to see all the famous people in the world, if I 
must be blind to the faces that I love ? " 

" You must try to see us with your heart, my 
dear child," said his mother. 

Edward went to bed somewhat dispirited ; but, 
quickly falling asleep, was visited with such a pleas- 
ant dream of the sunshine and of his dearest friends 
that he felt the happier for it all the next day. And 
we hope to find him still happy when we meet again. 



